“So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of
you, if you do not forgive your
brother from your heart."
Because
of an erroneous stubbornly recurring antithesis theology between the Hebrew and
the Apostolic Writings, people assume that Yeshua overthrew the retributive Mosaic
legal code of, ‘an eye for an eye’ and replaced it with a new law based on love
and forgiveness (Exodus 21:24; Matthew 5:38-41). Let’s examine the issues a little
closer.
The
expressions, ‘eye for an eye’ and, ‘turning the other cheek’ are not to be
taken literally. These are Hebrew idioms; legal terms invoking damage
restitution by a liable parties. For damage restitution not to be demanded by
God’s court of law would be unjust, and Hashem cannot be unjust. ‘An eye for an
eye’ is a command for an offender to
restitute what is lost, broken, or stolen, as a chance to redeem himself, not
for the offended to demand. For a liable party not to ‘beg’ for an opportunity
to demonstrate his true repentance for his foolish actions, would show
callousness and a total lack of the fear of God.
When
reading the Master’s recommended application of the Torah legal code all
throughout His teachings, we must realize that Yeshua could not have been
changing the Torah. That would automatically make Him a false prophet to be
shunned. It is because of that erroneous teaching that until today Jews will
not consider Yeshua as the Messiah. What Yeshua did in His teachings was
absolutely in line with Rabbinic Judaism. He took the Torah and gave His personal
opinion on how to apply Its wise instructions. Most of the Master’s recommended
Torah application can be found within Judaism itself. He promoted much of Rabbi
Hillel ’s teachings (Rabbi Hillel was Gamaliel’s (Paul ’s mentor and teacher) Grand-father)). Of course, since Yeshua is the Mashiach, His
chosen applications are the right ones.
The
mistake people make when they read the Master’s teachings is the failure to
distinguish between obligations pertaining to Torah courts of Law, and
imperatives given to individuals. Because of this, people often want to take
the ‘law’ in their own hands and apply it in a vigilante style desiring wanting
to kill the adulteress, the idolater and the criminals, when actually nothing of
the sort can be done outside of a legal Sanhedrin ruling.
What
the Master teaches us is greater than requiring the due course of justice.
There is no commandment to litigate, and what Yeshua offers here is the idea of
not to litigate; to rather to forgive a debt (a sin or an offense) from the
heart; to not hold grudges, but instead,to rely upon Hashem for justice. This
principle is the one found in the parables of the unjust servant (Matthew 18:21-35).To forgive in the legal code of
Torah was not an emotional mental exercise; it was simply not to require
retribution.
Come
to think of it; could anyone of us be required the full mandate of the Torah
for our trespasses against God?
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