2011 SEP

Greetings to all on 10 SEP 2011


Word for the Day
Remez – Rabbis sometimes use a dialogue technique now called remez. The speaker makes a point by referring to a verse near the beginning (or end) of a passage. As goyim (gentiles), we would never get the point because we don’t know the Tanakh (OT) like a rabbi would. The hearer would automatically connect that verse to the rest of the story and the message would be driven home – often with an “ouch! “[1]

Quote for the Day
For him, unity was preferable to truth. [2]

Thought for the Day
Zacchaeus was the focus of our recent Sunday class. Most of us have known this story since we were kids. We can still hear the song in our heads: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he…” But is it possible that our understanding and, therefore application, is still based on a child-like view of Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus?

His name in Hebrew is Zakkai, which means pure. We remember that Zacchaeus was a tax collector, a career choice hated even more in those days than now. Most of us were taught that Zacchaeus had coerced, maybe even extorted, extra money from his own people in order to enrich himself. He was despised as a Jew who worked for the Romans and, as such, was viewed as a traitor to his own people. The text does not guarantee that he had become wealthy at the expense of his fellow Jews, although this was common practice among his ilk. Notice that Zacchaeus says, “If I have defrauded anyone, I will repay fourfold.” [LUK 19.8]

Is there more to the story than illustrating that Jesus is a friend to the outcast or that restitution should be made when fraud is committed? Consider the final verses of Luke’s tale: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” [vvs.9-10]

It is very likely that the phrase “to seek and save the lost” comes from Ezekiel 34. [3] Beginning with verse eleven we read, “Thus says the ADONAI, behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land.” [EZE 34.11-13a]

The first part of that chapter outlines the abuses of Israel’s shepherds. “The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. …. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them… Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.”

Make no mistake - when the Jewish leaders heard the key verse [v.11], they got the point in the form of a stinging rebuke! First, Jesus pronounced Zacchaeus as a son of Abraham, thereby implying that he was ceremonially clean. [4] This would have been in direct contradiction to their view that he was unclean because he handled “dirty money,” i.e. Roman coins. [5] Second, Jesus declares that these shepherds will lose their flock because they have focused on their own desires and neglected the wounds of the people. They had refused to recognize Jesus as the chief shepherd of the next iteration of the kingdom of God on earth. Sometimes it is difficult for leaders to see the need for a change of direction.

I like the way Jeremiah described these same abuses of his day: “The wounds of my people are treated lightly, for they cry ‘peace, peace’, when there is no peace.” [JER 6.14] Haven’t we heard the same assurances that all is well; we are enjoying peace and unity? Look around, don’t you see that the wounds of our people are being ignored?

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Adrienne Owen, ed.

1. Found at: www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=5557

2. Michael S. Moore, Faith Under Pressure, Leafwood Pub., Siloam Springs AR, 2003, p.131
In this true story, the elder board is deciding if they should help a family in need. One
man’s plea is “Can’t we all just get along?” as he wrestled with the divided decision.
For him, unity was preferable to truth.

3. Found at: www.grenoblechurch.org/wiki/uploads/common/Zaccheus_Encounters_Jesus.pdf
Also at: www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=5557

4. The woman with the issue of blood was healed and declared a “daughter” of Abraham. She had been unclean for twelve years. [MAR 5.34]

5. Wealthy Jews would employ others to handle their Roman coinage so they would not become ceremonially unclean. Those employees were in a continual state of uncleanness, meaning they could not enter the synagogue. Remember the phrase “filthy lucre” from the KJV?