From: Jeff Harrison (Jeff@totheends.com)
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: To The Ends Of The Earth--Teaching Letter #10
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH--Teaching Letter #10
PROSPERITY
Some of the most vivid written memories of Jesus' disciples
are of time spent along the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
This was before the crowds became so large, when those
listening could still fit in the cool, dark interior
of the local synagogue. Here they had Yeshua (yeh-SHU-ah),
as they called him in Hebrew, 'all to themselves,'
and enjoyed the personal and homey experiences of daily
life together, as well as spectacular times of healing
and ministry.
"Home" at this time was the small village of Capernaum
(Mark 2:1, 3:20), pressed up against the sea, whose
farmers worked most of the agricultural land along
the Sea of Galilee's northwest shore. The simplicity
of life here is revealed by the humble homes uncovered
by archaeologists: the fieldstone walls at times dangerously
narrow, the roofs a few branches overlaid with reeds
and smeared with mud.* The floors, too, at least on
the ground floor, were dried mud. By modern standards,
the level of economic life was poor.
* This is why the friends of the paralytic had to "dig"
through the roof to lower him down before Jesus (Mark
2:4).
Today, these ruins sit empty and lifeless. But in
Jesus' day, the small streets filled with voices and
children playing, the creak of old wooden doors opening
onto the bustle of life in the courtyards and the rooms
around them.
The experience of daily life in these Jewish villages
comes to life in the writings of the Jewish rabbis.
Religious and legal attention was focused on such
small-town concerns as whether or not to tithe fruit
on the branches of a tree hanging over an outer wall,
whether grapes must be put in the wine press with clean
or unclean hands, and exactly how many cubits from
town a tanner was required to keep his business.*
* Tanners soaked hides in potent smelling vats that
included ingredients like urine and excrement. For
this reason the rabbis required that they be kept at
least 50 cubits from town. This probably explains
why Simon the Tanner's house was "by the sea," instead
of in town (Acts 10:6,32).
But small-town poverty was no hindrance to religion.
Some of the most famous rabbis came from a life of
want. Hillel, the most famous rabbi of the generation
before Jesus, earned only half a denarius a day (half
the usual "minimum wage"; see Matt. 20:2). Yet he
spent half of it attending the House of Study (Beth
Midrash) to listen to the teaching of the rabbis.
Once, when he didn't have enough money, he climbed
up to a window to listen to the teaching.
Jesus, too, grew up in poverty. Forty days after his
birth, Mary gave a pair of pigeons for her ritual purification,
instead of the lamb required of those more well-to-do
(compare Luke 2:24 with Lev. 12:8). Nazareth, even
more than Capernaum, was a humble place. As Nathanael
said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John
1:46). In Capernaum, when the collectors approached
Jesus for the annual two drachma Temple tax*--one of
the lesser taxes imposed on the Jews at the time, he
didn't have it. Instead, he sent Peter to catch a
fish with a coin in its mouth, just enough to pay the
tax for the two of them (Matt. 17:24-27). The attempt
of his family to get Jesus to leave the ministry and
return home may have had more to do with losing a primary
wage-earner than with any religious disapproval (Mark
3:21,31,32).
* Also known as the half-shekel tax, equivalent to
two day's wages. From this tax, paid by Jews around
the world, the sheep for the daily sacrifice and other
regular expenses of the Temple were paid.
But unlike the rabbis, Jesus clearly had a problem
with wealth. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on the earth.... No one can serve two masters.... You cannot
serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:19,24).* This "mammon
of unrighteousness" (riches; Luke 16:9,11) creates
an obstacle to following God's will.
* "Mammon" has been conveniently mythologized by some
to refer to an otherwise unknown god of riches. But
the clear meaning of the term in contemporaneous literature
(Mishnah, Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls) is property,
riches, or wealth.
Jesus' solution to the problem of wealth he offered
to a well-off young man (called a leader or official
in Luke) that was seeking eternal life: "Sell your
possessions and give to the poor...and come, follow me"
(Matt. 19:21, Luke 18:18). Some have creatively interpreted
this as a special instruction given to this young man
only because he was rich. But Jesus gave exactly the
same instruction to all that would follow him: "Any
of you that does not give up all his possessions cannot
be my disciple" (Luk. 14:33).
No wonder most of those who accepted Jesus' message
were poor: the am-haaretz, the ordinary hard-working
peasants despised by the Pharisees for their spiritual
weakness. To them, and others like them, Jesus addressed
his teaching, "Blessed are the poor" (Luke 6:20).
Here Jesus captured one the great mysteries of human
existence: that in spite of their many challenges,
their struggles and daily difficulties, it's often
the poor children of the world that smile with the
biggest smiles.
This teaching hints back to the prophecies of Isaiah:
"To this one I will show regard: to the poor and
stricken of spirit and trembling at my Word" (66:2);
and "For this is what the high and exalted one says
who lives forever, and holy is his name, 'I live in
a high and holy place and with the contrite and humble
of spirit'" (57:15). That ascetic poverty had already
become a religious value may be seen in John the Baptist
and the Dead Sea community, living intentionally humble
lives out the desert. It might also be seen in Jesus'
friends living in Bethany (in Hebrew, Beth-oni [bait-owe-NEE]),
"the house of the poor."* As Jesus said of his own
itinerant lifestyle, "The foxes have holes and the
birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't
have anyplace he can lay his head" (Matt. 8:20).
* Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are not mentioned as having
spouses. Is it possible they were among the many living
in the desert for religious reasons? (Bethany, although
close to Jerusalem, sits on the other side of the Mt.
of Olives, where the desert of Judea begins.) The
rabbis later vigorously resisted this ascetic tendency
and eventually purged it from Jewish life.
By contrast, the stylish mansions of the Sadducees
and priests in Jerusalem featured the latest fashions
from Italy. They were built of expensive cut stone with
stone floors, paid for through lucrative compromise
with the pagan Romans. "Woe to you who are rich!"
Jesus intoned against them and others like them (Luke
6:24). It's easier, he said, "for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:24). This "eye of the
needle" has been conveniently mythologized by some
to refer to a small wicket gate used to enter Jerusalem
when the main gates were closed.* But Jesus' true
meaning, as the context clearly shows, is that he considered
it impossible--without the intervention of God (Matt.
19:26, but see also 1 Tim. 6:17-19).
* The historical gates of Jerusalem are well known.
No such gate is ever mentioned in the historical sources.
But following Jesus did not mean giving up something
for nothing. In the same context of the wealthy young
man Jesus said, "There is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or lands because of me and because of the gospel but
that he will receive a hundred times as much now in
this (present) time, houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands...and in the coming
age eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). Sacrifice for Jesus
will receive a reward: both now and in the future.
As he said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things [food, drink, clothing] will be provided for
you" (Matt. 6:33), or in his instructions before sending
out his disciples, "For the workman is worthy of his
provision" (Matt. 10:10).
This is far from the modern prosperity gospel, which
preaches reward without the necessity of selling out
all for Christ. "Give us today our daily bread" (Matt.
6:11), asks not for multiplied riches, but the meeting
of vital necessity. It's a hint back to the provision
of manna in the desert: God's provision in exactly
the measure that was needed at exactly the time it
was needed. But it's also an allusion to Proverbs
30:8,9, "Provide me my portion of bread," which adds,
"Do not give me poverty or riches...lest I be full, and
deal falsely, and say, 'Who is the LORD?' or lest I
be poor, and steal, and seize (misuse) the name of
my God."
There is a Scriptural balance with regard to money:
wanting neither riches or poverty, but trusting the
Lord to provide every need. Unfortunately, many are
teaching wealth as the true savior, and Jesus as a
means to achieve it. But the Bible counters, "Those
who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap
and many foolish and harmful desires, that plunge people
into ruin and destruction.... Flee from these things,
you man of God" (1 Tim. 6:9,11).*
* Even here, there is a popular misinterpretation of
the intervening verse ("For the love of money is the
root of all evil things"; 1 Tim. 6:10). It is, they
say, only the "love of money" that is a problem, not
the money itself. But this has missed the point entirely.
Money is not to be our goal at all: rather we are
to pursue "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance
and gentleness," all of which are to take priority
over money (1 Tim. 6:11). Seek first the kingdom,
sell out everything to follow Christ. If not, we will
find ourselves willing to compromise these and other
Biblical values (such as justice for the poor) for
a buck.
Jesus said we are to "be perfect as your heavenly Father
is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). This isn't referring to
avoiding typing errors or never dropping your keys.
The Hebrew word Jesus used here is most likely "shalem,"
a derivative of the word "shalom." The perfection
it refers to is wholeness and completeness: a physical
and spiritual "peace" that no amount of money can ever
buy. This is true prosperity: leaving behind the
imbalanced race after worldly things to serve Jesus
with everything you have--and to follow his Spirit
wherever he may lead (John 3:8). It's the greatest
adventure mankind can ever experience: walking with
God into the unknown. "Come follow me," Jesus said
(Matt. 19:21). May we have the boldness to accept
his invitation.
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Copyright c 2000 by Jeffrey J. Harrison. All rights
reserved.
To The Ends Of The Earth Ministries is sponsoring a
study tour to Israel in June 2001! Pastor Jeff Harrison,
who will be leading the tour, has studied with some
of the top Israeli archeologists and Christian scholars
in Jerusalem and led study tours full time while living
in Jerusalem. He now continues to lead tours to Israel
about every other year. This will be a rich time of
study of the Jewish roots of Christianity and the life
of Jesus/Yeshua as a Jew in the Land of Israel. For
more information, visit the Tours page on our web site
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versions
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See the Articles section on the Classroom page.
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