Yeshua and His Friends

Notes

Yeshua: A Prophet Like Moses

Deut. 18:9-19 CJB

“What would a prophet like Moses look like? He would need to be a prophet who heard directly from God, like Moses did. He would need to be a redeemer of Israel, like Moses was. He would need to be a man of unsurpassed humility, like Moses was. Who is this mysterious prophet? The prophet like Moses is none other that the Messiah.” – Unrolling the Scroll, Book 5, pg. 804, First Fruits of Zion.

Moses heard directly from God – Yeshua: Jn. 12:49-50 “For I have not spoken on my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, namely, what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know that his command is eternal life. So what I say is simply what the Father has told me to say.”
Moses was a redeemer – John the Baptist said of Yeshua: “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world! (Jn. 1:29). [See also, 3:16-21; 10:1-18].
Yeshua, like Moses, was a servant: Matt. 20:28 ” For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Lk. 22:27b “But I myself am among you like one who serves.”

Yeshua and the Pharisees

Matt. 23:1-3 “Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim: 2 “The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe. 3 So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act!”

Some of the Pharisee’s actions may have been wrong, but Yeshua never corrected their teaching.
Yeshua was a Pharisee; if he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have been able to teach in the Synagogue.
We sometimes think Yeshua despised the Pharisees and their teaching. But according to Scripture, God corrects those He loves (Psa. 94:12, Prov. 3:11-12). Yeshua’s love for them caused him to admonish them and tell his disciples to obey their teaching but not follow their actions.
Historically speaking, the Pharisees were the popular teachers among the Jewish people, and they helped the people practically apply the teachings of the Torah.

*Brad H. Young’s books Meet the Rabbis and Jesus the Jewish Theologian are helpful introductory studies on this topic.

The Origination and Purpose of the Elders

In Num. 11, Moshe’s father-in-law encouraged him to appoint elders to help him.
Deut. 17:8-11
The Great Assembly which later became the Great Sanhedrin. Members of the Great Assembly you would know would be Ezra, Nehemiah, and Mordecai.
The rulings of the Great Assembly and Great Sanhedrin were later compiled in what is known as The Mishnah. It was compiled between 300 BCE and 220 CE.
The Mishnah includes how-to information on topics such as prayer, offerings, The Feasts of the Lord, Marriage, and various things concerning the Temple.
The Talmud is another monumental Jewish work that contains the Mishnah and Gemarah (rabbinical commentary on the Mishnah).
Lev. 26:46 “These are the laws, rulings and teachings that Adonai himself gave to the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai through Moshe.”
- Teachings (Torot in Heb.) Plural – The Written and Oral Torah.
- The Gospels we now have in written form were first transmitted by the teachings of the disciples.
The Ethics of the Fathers: “Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and the prophets to the men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be deliberate in judgment; develop many disciples; and make a fence around the Torah.” (Avot 1:1)

Yeshua and The Mishnah

Yeshua will be deliberate in judgment at the End of Days.
He cultivated twelve disciples and told them to make disciples.
His “Sermon on the Mount” was His fence around the Torah.
- “You’ve heard it said, don’t commit adultery, but I say to you, whoever looks with lust has already committed adultery in his heart.” Looking with lust is the fence. If you stop at lust, you won’t commit adultery.
- “You are not to murder, but I say, if you are angry, you have committed murder in your heart.” The fence is anger. If you stop the anger, you will never reach murder.
Matthew 13:52 “So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old.”
- Old: he teaches the original meaning.
- New: fresh application.