Month: December 2023

Bringing the Church Back to Jesus

I mentioned in the last blog entry that pastors are often the hardest to convince of the teachings of Jesus regarding Israel and the Law of Moses because they’ve been trained in Christian tradition and the interpretations of the New Testament that requires. But perhaps you’re a church leader who has been able to recognize what Jesus and the apostles teach about obeying God’s commands. The purpose of this entry is to make some suggestions about how to do that.

Chances are that your primary church service is on Sunday morning. A good place to start might be to add another service on Saturday. It might be a challenge to convince church leaders who need to approve such a step. I would suggest that you get them a copy of my book, “Following Christ”, and maybe have a group discussion of it.

If you’re able to start a Saturday service, don’t make it Saturday evening. You want it to be during the Sabbath all year ’round. The Sabbath ends at sunset on Saturday, and in the winter that comes pretty early. So you want your service to be in the morning or early afternoon. Over time this service should become the primary service, so plan toward that result.

Another step to take is to be a good example of Torah-observance. As you discover new things in the Torah to observe, integrate them into your lifestyle. If it seems appropriate, mention them to others, either in sermons, conversations, or on social media. There are people who will be likely to follow your example.

Another thing you can do is to preach on passages that affirm following Torah, such as Matthew 5:17-19, Romans 2, I Corinthians 7:17-20, I John 5:2-3, Acts 21:17-24, Psalm 1, Isaiah 56, and Ezekiel 36:24-28. You could also preach on the passages that are misinterpreted, and show how they should be understood.

Over time you can draw attention to the biblical festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, and possibly Purim and Hanukkah. There are a lot of things that you can do to bring your church back within the scope of following Christ’s example and obeying God’s instructions.

Hard to Convince

As I explain in my book, I’m convinced that the New Testament teaches that Jesus and his disciples stayed entirely within Judaism, that they taught and practiced the instructions of God as found in the Torah. Gentile followers of Jesus, as described in Acts 15, were not to convert to Judaism, and were not required to embrace all the practices taught in Torah all at once. But as they came to understand God’s instructions, they were encouraged to start following them. To be obedient to God, they would follow the instructions God gave his people, Israel.

Late in the first century, after 70 A.D., Rome levied a hefty tax on Jews, the Fiscus Judaicus. To determine who should pay it, they observed who acted Jewishly, who observed the Sabbath and festivals, and did other things that looked Jewish. Many Gentile followers of Jesus reacted against this tax, and stopped doing Jewish (biblical) things so they wouldn’t get taxed. They distanced themselves from Judaism, chose a different holy day, stopped avoiding meats that the Bible prohibited, stopped observing the biblical festivals, and started calling themselves “Christians” to distinguish themselves from Jews. Thus, by the second century, most of what became Christianity had deviated from the teachings of Jesus and his early followers in their relation to Jews and Judaism, and had abandoned the Law that God had given through Moses.

I’m convinced that this perspective is true to the New Testament and to history. It helps us understand why Christians have persecuted Jews through the centuries. Unfortunately, second-century “Christians” were able to find much in the writings of Paul that they could interpret as being anti-Torah, even though Paul, like Jesus, said many things that affirmed Torah.

Also unfortunately, it seems like the hardest people to convince of this perspective are professional “Christians”, pastors, missionaries, and professors. These people are dependent on their denominations for their livelihoods, so they’re going to be very hesitant to entertain any ideas that conflict with the Christian traditions that have been drilled into them in seminary. Occasionally one can be found who is willing to put the teaching of the New Testament above Christian tradition, and actually examine the teachings of Paul and the other apostles. But it takes a lot of courage to do so.

It seems evident that a plain reading of the New Testament supports the normativity of the Torah for followers of Jesus. Jesus insisted (Matthew 5:17-19) that until heaven and earth pass away, not a jot or tittle will pass from the Law until everything happens. Paul went out of his way in Acts 21 to demonstrate to the believers in Jerusalem that he lived according to the Law. And in his epistles, especially Romans, he affirms the Torah over and over again. Jesus taught that the greatest command in the Law was to love God, and John and others repeatedly stated that love for God is shown by obeying him.

It seems clear that a reading of the New Testament that is unaffected by Christian tradition would affirm positive views of Israel as God’s people and the Torah as his commands. But for 1900 years most of Christianity has deviated from the teaching of Jesus and his early followers on these issues. My prayer is that Christianity, like the prodigal son, will get tired of feeding pigs and will decide to return to the Father.