And another of my pointers, which forms the basis for this post: “Understand the genre of parables in rabbinic literature.” And the golden text for learning about this subject: David Stern, Parables in Midrash (note: this is not the David Stern who is famous in the Messianic Jewish community, but the Professor of Classical Hebrew Literature at the University of Pennsylvania).

WHAT IS THE RELATION BETWEEN RABBINIC PARABLES AND YESHUA’S?
This is a tricky question that needs to be addressed. Rabbinic parables started being written down in the fourth century in the land of Israel. That’s quite a long time after Yeshua. Some books and studies have unwisely blurred the lines between the first and fourth century.

Stern sums it up simply: “They were both part of a single genre” (188). This conclusion is based on the work of David Flusser (a scholar whose work, in my opinion, has flaws, but on this specific issue he must have made his point well) who demonstrated that literary characteristics of rabbinic parables have much in common with parables in the gospels.

People were telling parables already before Yeshua’s time and the genre continued with much similarity for hundreds of years.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PARABLES IN RABBINIC WRITINGS?
Rabbinical parables in most cases originated “in public contexts (sermons or preaching), and as an instrument for praise or blame, often directed at persons in the audience” (200). They “tend to be phrased in terms of praise or blame, or as a variation upon these opposites: approbation or disapproval, appreciation or disappointment, pleasure or pain” (52).

Among the purposes mentioned by Stern for parables are apologetics (defending the idea of faith against ideas that undermine it) and polemics (urging a point of view in opposition to others).

WHAT PARABLES ARE NOT
They are not primarily about doctrine. They may reflect on doctrinal themes. But they are primarily about praise or blame.

They are not riddles intended to confuse outsiders. Stern argues this in spite of Yeshua’s sayings about “to you has been given the secret of the kingdom” and “in order that they might not see” in Mark 4:11-12 (and parallels in Matthew 13:11-13 and Luke 8:10).

Stern thinks Yeshua (or Mark) has been misunderstood. The point is not that the parables were too hard to understand rationally. The point is that outsiders, those who do not remain near to Yeshua and ask questions and learn from him, will not be able to apply them. They will not penetrate the deeper message of the parables, which are mysteries, truths of a complex nature, involving more than interpretation: “To understand correctly, one must be a member of the community” (204).

TIPS FOR READING PARABLES
Who is Yeshua praising and why?

Who is he blaming and why?

How does the praise and blame from the parable receive added information from Yeshua’s teaching and actions with the disciples?

In other words, the parables are persuasive pieces of rhetoric designed to encourage action or belief in a certain direction. They are not primarily about information or revealing doctrine. The rabbinic parables may be later, but they provide a wealth of additional contexts in which we can see the same patterns as in Yeshua’s parables. They confirm for us the way parables were used in public speaking to persuade hearers to a new course of action or to stand firm in a good course of action or belief. We should look for Yeshua’s parables to function the same way.

This will largely keep us from reading too much later Christian theology into the parables, to imagine that they are about a timeline for the last days or a foretelling of Christendom or anything of the kind. They are persuasive sermons delivered to Jews in Galilee and Judea about Jewish life and faith.

Who is the Paraclete? You think it’s as easy as saying, “The Spirit.” Not so fast. There is more to it. Raymond Brown, in Appendix V in Volume II of his exceptional commentary (The Gospel According to John (XII-XXI), The Anchor Yale Bible, original edition 1970) discusses the five Paraclete passages in the larger context of the fourth gospel and the themes of Yeshua going away (being lifted up — on a cross, from the tomb, to the throne).

The Paraclete theme in John has bearing on our view of the Spirit, the Presence of Yeshua (as Brown says it, “the presence of the absent Jesus”), and the communities in which we find the power of the Paraclete at work (no individualists among the apostles and no Paraclete Presence apart from the congregation). In what follows, I will list some important consideration about the Paraclete and then unite the whole thing into a simple explanation.

The References in John

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,

John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 15:26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me;

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

The Paraclete, Point by Point

First, and not many people know this or at least I had not considered it: Yeshua was a Paraclete (Counselor) and the Paraclete he promised to send after he went away was to be “another Paraclete” (14:16).

Second, Yeshua sends the Paraclete and he proceeds from the Father and Yeshua can also describe this as the Father sending in Yeshua’s name. There were major disagreements starting in the early centuries over whether the Spirit proceeded from the Son or the Father (but with Jewish both-and thinking instead of philosophical either-or thinking, the whole fight could have been avoided!).

Third, the Paraclete will come but only if Yeshua goes away. Why must Yeshua go away? See below: “Identity of the Paraclete.”

Fourth, the Paraclete is called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, and “another Paraclete.”

Fifth, the Paraclete does a host of things for the disciples: they recognize him (14:17), he dwells with them (14:17), he teaches them everything (14:26), he guides them in truth (16:13), he imparts what is Yeshua’s to the disciples (16:14), he bears witness through the disciples to the world (15:26-27), he reminds the disciples of Yeshua’s words (14:26), he speaks only what the Son and Father impart (16:13). See below: “Not an Interpreter of Scripture!” and “Thoughts on Paraclete as Revealer.”

Sixth, the “world” does not know and cannot receive the Paraclete (14:17), the Paraclete will reach out to those in the “world” who witness those who bear the Paraclete (15:26), and he shows the “world” the truth of brokenness and evil (16:8-11). See below: “The Witness of the Paraclete.”

Seventh, Paraclete has a variety of origins as a Greek word: a defense attorney, a spokesman who intercedes, a consoler or comforter in sorrow, and exhortation or declaration in speaking. No wonder people have trouble translating Paraclete, because all of these ideas exist in the verses about the Paraclete: Advocate/Intercessor/Consoler/Proclaimer. I rather like RSV’s “Counselor.” Brown suggests we leave it as Paraclete.

Eighth, the Paraclete continues the work of Yeshua (like the spirit of Elijah which came on Elisha).

Not an Interpreter of Scripture!

I learned in my early days that the Spirit of truth is how we know what the Bible means. Another way to say it is that the “illumination” of the Spirit is supposed to teach all of Jesus’ followers the truth, the meaning of the Bible, theology, the gospel, best methods for doing the work, and etc.

It was, from the beginning, an idea I rejected.

If the Spirit teaches Jesus-followers the truth, then why don’t we all agree?

Thoughts on Paraclete as Revealer

The Paraclete teaches the disciples to remember what Yeshua said.

My teen daughters right now are memorizing Matthew 5. They wish the Paraclete just gave them the knowledge without effort!

I think it is crucial to understand the Paraclete promises are specifically to the disciples who were with Yeshua. I do think there is carry-over from the disciples to modern followers in some things. But I believe many of the promises about the Paraclete’s revelation and teaching refer to the work the apostles did, including passing the New Testament scriptures to us.

The Witness of the Paraclete

The passage about the Paraclete bearing witness (15:26) comes right after and also right before some statements that clarify what “bearing witness” means.

In 15:18-25, the disciples of Yeshua are hated and persecuted as they live in imitation of Yeshua. This is followed immediately by the “witness” of the Paraclete.

In 15:27, the disciples who were with Yeshua “from the beginning” (John’s baptism is what is meant as “the beginning”), will bear witness. This means the record of the apostles’ witness (the New Testament) is how the Paraclete bears witness.

Putting both of these together, I do think that the witness is alive today in two respects: we can show Yeshua to people in the New Testament and we can imitate the disciples who imitated Yeshua and thereby the Paraclete bears witness through us (communally, not individually).

Identity of the Paraclete

The Paraclete is not simply the Spirit (Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of Truth). The Paraclete does not speak in his own name. He speaks only what he receives from the Son and Father.

The Paraclete is, in Brown’s phrasing, the Presence of the absent Jesus. That is, the Paraclete is the Spirit, but what the Spirit communicates is the living Presence of Yeshua in and through Yeshua’s followers. The Paraclete is how Yeshua is with us now and we are in union with him. The Spirit is a separate person from the Son, but the Son and Spirit share a union so that the Spirit’s presence can be also the presence of the Son.

There are three important realizations here: (1) the Paraclete is Yeshua-continued in mystical Presence, (2) the Paraclete is communicated through the apostolic words of the New Testament, and (3) the Paraclete is seen in the community of Yeshua-followers.

If you want the “world” to know Yeshua, show them the New Testament (only understood via the Hebrew Bible) and the community of Yeshua-followers.

The ultimate meaning of Yeshua’s instructions is simple: he is still with us, we reveal him through the words shown to the apostles, and we reveal him by being together a community enacting the way Yeshua taught us.

My Final Comment

You could look on the positive side and say, “Look what great things Christianity (and Messianic Judaism) has done!” That is a legitimate perspective in spite of what I will say in the next paragraph.

On the other hand, no wonder the followers of Jesus today have so little success and are making so little difference (here in the West, but much good is happening elsewhere on the globe). Ignorance of the New Testament (and Hebrew Bible) is rampant among so-called followers of Jesus and we have traded the idea of community for a lesser idea of a weekly event! The way back is simple and joyful.

I thought it appropriate to repost the blog here on Yeshua in Context because it deals with practical matters of discipleship. Studying the gospels and the life of Yeshua should not be merely about history or theory. As John 7:17 indicates, Yeshua expected that doing his kingdom teaching was the way to know it is true. After the jump you will find the full text of “The Way to Have a Message.”

The discussion this week is about MJ having an intelligent message for promoting Yeshua-faith. It is about the cause of representing hope and faith in the Jewish community and showing that there is a better way to live and know God and love people. And I do believe that in every way, in every form of Jewish expression, Yeshua is needed. There isn’t any aspect of Judaism that isn’t taken to greater heights by the realization of who Yeshua is and knowing his kingdom teaching.

But there is a very good reason why MJ doesn’t do well at representing Yeshua to the Jewish community (a reason I will share after the jump).

Meanwhile, we’ve had lots of great discussion. I want to point out in particular a comment by Rabbi Joshua Brumbach (which I will respond to):

I think we are first and foremost to be a representative presence of Yeshua within the Jewish community. We are a community of faith and our promoting Yeshua-faith to the wider Jewish community should come as a natural outgrowth of that. It is secondary (yet still imperative) to our existence as a holy remnant within, and as a part of, greater Israel.

I also want to point out a comment by Bob Williams:

I think many of us in MJ circles would like to see much more of a “Relationship Evangelism” aka “Lifestyle Evangelism” but too many of our people are not in relationships of any sort with Jewish non-Yeshua-believers. Its hard to influence those you never interact with in any meaningful way. (Perhaps an even bigger problem here is that for “Relationship Evangelism” to work, there must be evidence of transformation in the lives of our people. Sometimes when I look around I wonder what’s supposed to be so attractive here.)

Great thoughts. Now let’s talk about how to have a message.

The reason MJ doesn’t do well at representing Yeshua is simple. It was in yesterday’s gospel reading (John 7:14-36):

. . . if any man is willing to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
-John 7:17

We don’t represent Yeshua well because we don’t emphasize living the kingdom as Yeshua taught it.

SUBSTITUTE #1: Weekly meetings and lively musical worship. This is all good, but it’s not the main point.
SUBSTITUTE #2: Torah study / Bible reading / online study for inspiration and social interaction / reading books. This is input. Where is the output?
SUBSTITUTE #3: Feeling like we are right and others are wrong, as if being “right” is what the kingdom is about.

When will our Jewish people know the words of Yeshua are true?

You know the answer if you been engaging in “Substitute #2.” It will happen when we get caught doing the will of the Father.

KINGDOM LIVING #1: Have weekly meetings where people are empowered to form community, to live on a higher plane of love and deeds of kindness, and to make a difference so that our goal is to make this world more like the world to come.
KINGDOM LIVING #2: Read the Torah, the gospels and Acts (in particular, but the whole Bible as well) in order to do what it says and the doing is more important than the learning.
KINGDOM LIVING #3: Be busy doing right and don’t worry about being right.

When we are more know for what we do than what we believe, we will have a message.

So, in part, then, I agree with Rabbi Joshua’s statement cited above. And I agree with Bob Williams’ statement. We need to get busy being the holy remnant. We need to ask, as Bob Williams is asking, “I wonder what’s supposed to be so attractive here.”

Just so no one thinks I am still only being theoretical, let me mention a huge list of things that doing the kingdom includes. The point of this list is not to limit what doing the kingdom means, but to give some practical guidelines and pointers. Your applications of Yeshua’s kingdom teachings will no doubt grow over the years as you study Torah and gospel:
Live in forgiving community — work for Tikkun Olam — feed hungry people and clothe naked people — be a person in the workplace who helps people with problems — use possessions to help people — know and be able to explain the world to come — care for children — be strong in marital and family love — give tzedaka (alms) — pray with a vision to work that the prayers would come true — develop Middot (the measures of Torah character) — heal relationships — visit lonely or needy people — share hospitality deliberately and often — help people harmed by injustice — confess wrongs — teach children — volunteer — give up control — serve in every situation and do not look to be served — pay off debts so you’ll have more to give — live simply and joyfully — support others in community with cooperation and participation — be of high integrity in your work and social interactions — and any other applications which come out of your regular reading and prayer.

Yeshua said in Mark 7:15, “there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.”

I have always thought that this passage was one of the most penetrating, well-phrased, to-the-heart-of-the-matter statements of what Yeshua stood for. It’s actually only part of what Yeshua had to say on the matter. It’s what he said to the crowds, the outsiders, the ones who did not get private instruction as part of the inner circle. Mark 7:15 is rather vague and can be taken in some different directions all by itself.

Yeshua gives further clarification in vss. 17-23. I won’t go into detail about some of the controversial matters here. Many people wonder if Yeshua is nullifying the dietary law. You can find my take on that question in chapter 8 of Yeshua in Context.

What I am interested in in this podcast is the meaning of Yeshua’s ethical teaching here. We’re too quick to make blanket statements and simplistic arguments. I hear all the time, “God hates religion and loves relationship.” You can’t possibly read the Bible with intelligence and believe this. What God hates is not religion, but the kind of things some people make of religion and the kinds of religion the masses tend to settle for. These weak and sometimes evil forms leave people empty, unfulfilled.

Likewise, it’s simplistic to say, “Yeshua is against ritual purity laws.” That’s not the point.

I’m saying Mark 7 cuts through our shoddy notions of religion. It is not simply a rebuke against those scribes back then.

Neither is Mark 7 unique in Yeshua’s teaching. It is a thread that runs throughout it.

In one parable, Yeshua calls his movement a mustard bush. That is, Yeshua’s movement is an annoying weed that pops up in the religious scene which the official gardeners can’t get rid of. It results in sinners and gentiles and the great unwashed coming into the kingdom.

In a famous scene, Yeshua protests the Temple. It is his Father’s house. He has zeal for it, as his disciples testify. Why does he protest it?

The simplistic say, he was against the Temple. Those who look deeper say, he was against what the leaders made the Temple to be. It has become an unjust system, a burden on the people and a source of enrichment for the power-brokers.

His Father made the Temple a place not only of worship but also of feeding the hungry and filling the people with abundance. But the leaders demand the tithes of the people without fulfilling the purpose. They keep as much of the proceeds as they can and use the Temple as much as they can to perpetuate their power. They demand without giving.

Yeshua opposes the Pharisees again and again and modern religion completely misses why. So many modern religious people act just like the Pharisees Yeshua opposed.

They shut people out of the kingdom. All the while they congratulate themselves, “We believe in grace; we are not legalistic Pharisees.” Mark 7 doesn’t allow any of us the luxury of self-congratulation.

In spite of much rhetoric, much modern religion is no more than “come to our meeting so you can have the mark of being one of the saved.” And in order to accommodate the idea of grace, many have made the meeting more like a concert, so that the threshold is lowered and it is not so hard for large numbers of people to attend the meeting and have the mark of the saved. Come as you are. You can wear a T-shirt. But by God, get here. If you don’t, you’re missing God’s healing power and heading to a dangerous place.

No wonder Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke of religionless Christianity as being so needed.

When people reduce the message of Yeshua to something as powerless as having the marks of the saved on you, outward signs like mere attendance, they have missed Yeshua completely.

Belonging to a community of believers is not and never has been, for Yeshua, about having the mark. Yeshua designed his community to be the place that IS and DOES his will.

How about we translate Yeshua’s saying in Mark 7: “Failure to attend meetings and bear the outward marks of faith is not what defiles, but righteousness comes from within, goes out from my followers, and comforts the suffering”?

What are the false notions of impiety in modern religion. They are many. Wrong music. Disinterest in shallow or boring worship services. Failure to apply the right bumper sticker or proclaim Jesus in a T-shirt logo.

Think about what Yeshua is actually saying in Mark 7: “Don’t worry that in the jostling crowds at Walmart you might contact uncleanness. It’s not contact from the outside that defiles. It’s what comes out of you, the wickedness in your heart. Your sense of superiority, I’m better than that woman. Your deceit. Your lust. Your grasping for self-enthronement is what defiles.

But you can get these words wrong too.

It’s not that Yeshua is saying, “Measure up.” Nor is he calling you to be a righteous individual.

First, a focus on measuring up will lead you astray. Don’t look at your shortcomings and feel unshakable shame. Look at all the good you can do and do it. Be a force for love, justice, kindness, goodness, service, help for those hurting.

Second, a focus on being a righteous individual will lead you astray. You were not created to be a solitary paragon of virtue. You made for others, to be with others, to be completed by others. You were made for God’s family.

But, you say, the congregation near me has it all wrong. Well, start somewhere. Yeshua’s generation had it all wrong too.

And no matter where you go, you’ll find people who want love, friendship, encouragement, help, and even to lend a helping hand.

But you will find that evil always pops up, in you and in others. Why be surprised? The power of sin is in perpetuating evil. The power of good is in reclaiming lost ground and advancing the kingdom of God.

While we are waiting for it to fully arrive, the kingdom of God is what we do together. It is what Yeshua taught us to do. Comfort mourners. Fill the hungry. See God. Supply needs. Right wrongs. Promote life.

SINCE . . . Yeshua called insiders who would remain close to him, form community, live out his teaching and example, and bring outsiders into community . . .

WHAT . . . are some overarching categories in Yeshua’s instruction for disciple communities?
…….(1) Shared resources in the new family.
…….(2) Union with God.
…….(3) The new mission.

More after the jump.

RATIONALE: Considering the message of the four gospels and especially key sections of instruction in the synoptics and John, these categories encompass much of what Yeshua said, demonstrated, and accomplished.

SHARED RESOURCES IN THE NEW FAMILY: Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother (Mark 3:35). The new family concept comes up in various forms throughout the gospels. Yeshua’s call to discipleship is a group call, not an individual call. The disciples are an inner circle (not just the Twelve). They are restored Israel. They are Yeshua’s family. They are to form a certain relation which assumes some organization (elders, congregation, etc.). Yeshua is present in their midst. They are to love one another sacrificially that all people will know they are disciples. The simplest description of their activity is to share resources. In the age to come there will be no lack, the poor will be blessed, mourners will be comforted. Yeshua comforted, provided, healed, and delivered from evil. Disciples, to the degree it is in their collective power, are to heal, serve, comfort, provide, and deliver. The activity comes from a strong belief in and union with God and his purposes, which Yeshua describes as the kingdom which is both now and not yet. The “now” part, the seed that bears fruit in the Sower parable, is whatever makes this life like the life of the age to come for people.

UNION WITH GOD: This theme is expressed in surprising ways. Those expected to be already in union with God are charged with missing him completely. Those thought to be shut out are invited in. Union with God does not come through group affiliation, national pride, or any kind of presumption. It comes through beholding God and/or beholding Yeshua, repenting, receiving, following, and being filled. From our perspective it involves choice, learning, and committing. But the transaction from God’s side involves things not in our power: being drawn, being forgiven, being filled. Following Yeshua by joining his new family and living his instruction is the entryway. Being filled involves many possible experiences and levels of awareness of the Presence and of empowerment for serving. Union brings peace, joy, strength, hope, knowledge of what is hidden, and the experience of love. Traditions involving repentance, humility, simplicity, service, and mystical awareness fit well with Yeshua’s teaching.

THE NEW MISSION: God sends Yeshua. Yeshua sends us. Yeshua instructed some in his inner circle at various times to go on missions. They went to proclaim gospel (good news) about the kingdom. They went to heal and deliver. Yeshua spoke often of God’s mission going to the gentiles. After his resurrection he sent his disciples to teach, baptize, and reinforce all that he commanded to form new communities.

IMPLICATIONS: Much religion in the name of Jesus (and/or Yeshua) is lacking in the qualities described in the gospels. The reality of evil and selfishness works against communities taking the sharing of resources seriously. Newer forms of presumption and group affiliation have replaced the idea of union with God. Mission for some groups has degenerated into mere proclaiming of a shallow gospel. In Yeshua’s model, as those in community live for one another, outsiders are drawn in by the need for love and healing. In Yeshua’s model, people find a connection with God that is mystical but real, which is for now and not just the life beyond. In Yeshua’s model, mission means making outsiders welcome and serving needs to defeat evil and make this world like the one to come.

STARTING POINT: To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, Mark 4:11.

How should this inform our model of Yeshua-community, of following Yeshua, and of being disciples?

RATIONALE: Mark 4:11 comes early in Yeshua’s instruction of his disciples. It concerns a major issue in his life and teaching and not a tangential point. Yeshua’s teaching was deliberately ambiguous, subject to multiple interpretations and ways of seeing what he had to say. The inner circle could gain greater understanding of specific meanings by close contact and frequent repetition and variation in Yeshua’s sayings and actions. Parables and difficult sayings characterized Yeshua’s teaching as well as his actions. His style was not to give simple answers but to further mystify inquirers and to challenge beyond common thinking.

PRINCIPLE: There are insiders and outsiders. Insiders remain close to Yeshua, hearing his words and seeing his actions. Insiders are in a group following together. Insiders are transformed by Yeshua’s vision and instruction.

APPLICATION #1: To be a congregation of Yeshua is to study his words, to live his words, and to frequently hear and be challenged by his words in an ongoing manner and to do so communally.

APPLICATION #2: The congregation of Yeshua should look to Yeshua’s words and actions as a model for its view of life, the world, people, God, and so on, in order to be changed and to do as Yeshua instructs.

APPLICATION #3: Those outside of Yeshua community should be viewed as needing “the secret of the kingdom of God” in order to become insiders. Note: Yeshua sent his disciples proclaiming and teaching the kingdom so that it is evident they were to bring outsiders inside.

INSIDERS (Summary): View life, God, and the world as Yeshua reveals them. A good summary is: happiness is defined by God and community working toward a vision of God’s rule on the earth. Note: This summary does not come out of the blue, but relies heavily on the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings.

OUTSIDERS (Summary): Happiness is defined by power and possessions which may or may not be combined with worship of God. Note: Outsiders included the religious and non-religious, though Yeshua mostly opposed the religious who were fixed and not open to God’s revelation. A study of outsiders in the gospels could confirm of modify this summary.

IMPLICATIONS: Yeshua’s teaching affects how we think about religion (church, synagogue, various expressions in society, politics, etc.). Congregations modeled on Yeshua’s call to group discipleship (not individual discipleship) should reflect his priorities. Religious groups that emphasize attaining a blissful afterlife do not meet the criteria of insiders. Religious groups that do not improve the lives of people (those in the community and also those outside) are not living up to Yeshua’s call. It remains to be specified what some of the specifics are about how to bring God’s Rule into the here and now, as Yeshua teaches (coming in Part 2).