“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28, NIV).

Many who are in the process of doubting the validity of Yeshua as Mashiach have pointed to this passage and condemned it as a pagan rite, foreign to Judaism, recalling the Torah’s prohibition against eating unclean meats and consuming blood. My question is this: Is Yeshua telling us to literally partake of his flesh and blood? My answer is an adamant “no” (no matter what the Roman church says about transubstantiation). Yeshua is not cutting himself or doing any kind of bloodletting ceremony in which his disciples will actually participate in some form of cannibalism. If this is not the case, then it would be good to search for any similar language in Torah that might help us to better understand his intent for these expressions. We have such an expression in parashat Shelach.

“Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:9, NKJV)

In this passage, the New King James (as well as the KJV) preserve the idiom for us by saying “for they are our bread.” The Hebrew attests to this with the phrase כִּי לַחְמֵנוּ הֵם (literally, “for your bread are they”).

How is this passage intended to be understood? The NIV renders it as “we will swallow them up.” The NASB says, “they will be our prey.” These hit on the basic meaning of this phrase. Just as this phrase is not to be understood literally, neither are the words of the Master. When he tells his disciples to “eat his fleash” and “drink his blood,” he is telling them that they must “consume” him—that he must become their all. He is their connection to the Father. He has become their spiritual sustenance by which they receive their spiritual nourishment. Modern chasidism is replete with correlations to this concept, for which there is too little time to spend explaining here. However, if you would like to understand more about this concept, check out this excellent audio teaching by R’ Manis Friedman for an incredible insight into the relationship between a rebbe and his chasid, and think about your relationship to your rebbe – The Rebbe, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Shalom,
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Tuesdays mornings at 6:00am I have a standing meeting with a good friend. Nearly every week it’s a given that we will be meeting, and we come away challenged and encouraged. Over the last few weeks, our attendance has grown a bit. We’ve recently had two other men begin to join us in order to glean a bit of Torah. One has been exposed to Torah for several years, and the other has only recently come across its path. I’m not saying this to boast. I’m saying this to say how wonderful it is to begin to have other men who are committed to discussing and learning Torah, and willing to meet at a restaurant at 6:00am each week in order to do so.

This week we were talking about Pesach and our community-wide Seder. This led us into a discussion regarding Eliyahu (Elijah) and his role in being the forerunner of Messiah. One gentleman brought up the point that he knew that Elijah had come in the form of Yochanon the Immerser (John the Baptizer) in order to announce the arrival of Yeshua, but was wondering if there is reason to believe he would return to announce the second coming of Messiah.

This led us to opening up the writing of both Malachi and Luke’s Gospel to allow the words of Scripture to speak for themselves. I didn’t realize that it would lead to a whole new paradigm on these passages.

Malachi 3:19-24 (4:1-6 in a non-Jewish published Bible) says:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the L-RD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the L-RD of hosts.

“Remember the law (Torah) of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the L-RD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” (NASB)

From the context of this passage it appears that Eliyahu will indeed return to re-announce the coming of Messiah at then end of this Age. It was exciting, however, when we began to examine the end of this passage with the angelic announcement of Yochanon the Immerser to his father Zechariah.

In regard to Eliyahu, Malachi specifically says the following: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” In Luke’s account of the proclamation of Yochanon we hear the following:

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:13-17, NIV)

In this passage, the angel does not quote the passage in Malachi directly, but does a midrashic remez instead. Malachi states that not only will the hearts of the fathers be drawn back to the children, but that the hearts of the children be drawn back to the fathers. The angel’s account in Luke doesn’t include this latter half of the children being drawn back to the fathers.

For a long time (maybe ten years) I’ve had a hunch that the passage in Malachi hinted at drawing others back to the “fathers” — the “avot” (i.e. the patriarchs or sages and therefore Torah). However, I had not been able to draw any hard conclusions. A re-examination of this passage in Luke is the missing clue. Evidently, Hashem believes it to be connected to this concept — so much so that He sent Gabriel to teach us of the connection.

In the style of an Aramaic targum, the voice of the angel in Luke’s account midrashically expounds upon the mere pashat understanding of Malachi’s text in order to give the fuller implication of its significance. It begins with the direct quote of the function of Eliyahu being to “turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children” but then veers from the expected reversal of turning “the hearts of the children to their fathers.” Rather than merely quoting the reversal, the angel gives us an elucidation, forcing a connection between the hearts of the children returning to the fathers, and turning the hearts of the disobedient back to the path of righteousness — a path of Torah. He specifically states that Yochanon will turn the “disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.” In effect, he will turn those living apart from the obedience of Torah to the tzaddikim (the righteous ones).
In Hebrew we have a thematic connection between the avot and both the patriarchs and sages of the Talmudic period. When referencing the avot, one of these two connections are instinctively made.

Therefore, the work of Eliyahu HaNavi is not only to return the hearts of fathers to children, but to return the hearts of those apart from Torah back to the wisdom of Torah.

After explaining this, my friend said he could totally understand this, because over the last few weeks his heart has been turned toward Torah, because his heart has been turned toward his soon expected child. His love for this little one within the womb has made him want to turn towards Hashem’s ways, rather than the ways which have been traditionally taught within the church.

Truly in our day and time the spirit of Eliyahu is turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the unknowingly disobedient to the wisdom of Torah.Similar Posts:

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In the Gospels (less than two centuries later), there is still a struggle with balancing Sabbath restrictions with compassion for humanity. Yeshua chastises the opposing Pharisees for their lack of compassion and adamantly declares that bringing wholeness to a person on the Sabbath is the overriding element of the normal Sabbath stringencies. Mark records the account of the man with the withered hand as follows:

Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
(Mark 3:1-6)

Yeshua emphasizes to those around him that the priority of bringing wholeness to another person has taken precedent over Sabbath abstentions.

Another similar case in which Yeshua emphasizes this message is found in the Gospel of Luke:

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
(Luke 13:10-17)

Here he actually interacts with the people, bringing in a chal v’homer argument from Scripture to prove his point.

In both of these instances Yeshua is seen to be critical of the current halacha regarding Sabbath, and by most Christian interpretation as critical of adhering to any form of Sabbath restriction. However, I seriously believe he was helping to shape the embryonic development of the halachic standard of Sabbath observance within the framework of Judaism. I believe his rulings, such as these, helped to shape the “binding and loosing” within the Rabbinic Judaism of today. The Mishnah (compiled less than two centuries after the time of Yeshua) records Sabbath leniencies in regard to aiding a woman in labor.

We may assist a woman in childbirth on the Sabbath; and we may call a midwife from place to place for her; and we may desecrate the Sabbath on her behalf.
(Mishnah, Shabbat 18:3)

According to this mishnah, nearly anything may be done on the Sabbath for the woman giving birth. This includes lighting candles for her, even though she may be blind, for it might give her peace of mind knowing that the midwife could see well. The Gemara goes even further to tell us we may even “desecrate” Sabbath on her account up to seven days after “the opening of the womb.” And in another instance it tells us that a fire may be kindled on the Sabbath to bring warmth to one who is ill, even if it is in warm weather (b.Shabbat 129a).

Just two centuries after Yeshua, the halacha has been codified with the more lenient (and compassionate intent of the Sabbath) viewpoint. We see from these examples Yeshua’s tremendous influence on the development of Rabbinic halacha as the one who would be the “Repairer of the Breaches” (Isaiah 58:9-12).

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Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
“About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

” ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

“The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Matthew 19:16-20:16 (NIV)

When we communicate Yeshua’s teaching of “the first will be last, and the last will be first,” rarely do we connect the questioning of the “rich, young ruler” with his parable of the generous landowner. However, as we can see from this complete, uninterrupted passage, they are inseparable.

In the story of the rich, young ruler, their are actually two points of conflict. First, the man is troubled by his inability to be rewarded for his current merits, which he felt were satisfactory. Second, the disciples were troubled because of Yeshua’s critical assessment of those who have earthly means, declaring that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Paraphrasing, they asked, “Then who has any hope?” Yeshua responded by telling them that “the first will be last, and the last will be first,” and then proceeds to tell them a parable.

In this parable, he sets the stage with average characters on an average day. The climax comes at the end of the story with a surprise ending. Everyone is expecting the workers who worked the longest and hardest in the heat of the day to be rewarded more than those who labored for only a short time. This is not the case, and it causes the listener to instinctively feel a sense of injustice. However, we must look beyond the surface to understand the point the Master (and the Master story-teller) is communicating.

In a Talmudic incident recorded in b.Bava Batra 10b we have an illustration to help us better understand the words of the Master. In this story, a man named Yoseph (son of Rabbi Yeshoshua) was extremely ill and had a “near-death” experience in which he experience the “next life” for a brief moment. When he came back to his senses, his father asked him to relate what he saw. His response was, “I saw an upside-down world, where great ones were low, and lowly ones were above!” His father comforted him by responding, “You glimpsed a world of clarity.” His father went on to explain to him that although he may expect those who are learned and accomplished to have more reward in the life-to-come, it is not necessarily the case. Why? Because we are rewarded based on how we live up to the potential Hashem has put with each one of us.

Most will not be world renown. We simply have to be faithful with all with which Hashem has entrusted us. We will not be judged based on the achievements of others. Nor will we granted leniency based on how others are slacking. There are those who are given very little, yet live out their abilities to the extreme. However, there are others who are immensely blessed with all kinds of internal resources, yet waste their resources on self-indulgence. Although it appears that Hashem grades on a curve, He actually does not, because the standard is the same for everyone—we must become all that we were intended to become for His glory.

The Chasidic teacher Rabbi Zusha of Hanipol used to say, “When I come before the heavenly court and am asked, ‘Zusha, why were you not Moses?’ I will answer, ‘Because I did not have Moses’ leadership abilities.’ And when I am asked, ‘Zusha, why were you not Abraham?’ I will answer, ‘Because I was not blessed with Abraham’s intellectual abilities.’ For every such question, I will have an answer. But when I am asked, ‘Zusha, why were you not Zusha?’ for that I will have no answer.”
(Telushkin, Joseph, A Code of Jewish Ethics, Vol. 1, p. 32)

Will I become Darren? Will you become you? Or will we be last, rather than first in the Olam Haba (the word-to-come)? It will definitely be a time of surpises. Don’t be a “first” who ends up “last,” and definitely don’t be a “last” who thinks they can’t be “first.” Take the US Army slogan to heart, and “Be all that you can be.”

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