The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, Part 9: Matthew 13-14, by Kevin M. Williams
What about today? Can a person still take hold of the “fringes” of the Messiah? Biblically, it is prophesied that this will happen, not only among the children of Abraham, but among the gentiles as well!
Thus says the Lord of hosts, “In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:23).
If Zechariah is any indication, we see a time when faith in the God of Israel would not be limited to Israelis. It would appear that the Almighty has made a provision for non-Jews to come under the shadow of His wings, finding healing, salvation, and a path for living in the community of the redeemed. It would seem that even unclean Gentiles can become the apple of God’s eye, grafted-in to the rich root (Rom 11:17), a part of the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:12), and no longer kept separated by the wall of partition (Eph 2:14). All that is required is to reach out in faith like those in Mark 6:56, “And wherever [Yeshua] entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and entreating Him that they might just touch the [tzit-tzit] of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured” (brackets mine).
What about you? Have you reached out to grasp Yeshua’s tzit-tzit?
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In our next part in the series The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah we take a deeper look at Yeshua’s relationship to the oral law within the culture context of the day.
Endnotes
1 “Jesus” is the anglicized form of the Hebrew name, Yeshua, which means “salvation.”
2 Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, Vol. 2, John Lightfoot, ©1979, Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI, p. 212.
3 The Tanach, The ArtScroll Series/Stone Edition, ©1996, Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, NY, p. 1502.
4 Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Vol. 1, Dr. Michael L. Brown, ©2000, Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI, p.55.
5 Ibid.
6 The Jewish New Testament Commentary, David H. Stern, ©1992, Jewish New Testament Publications, Clarksville, MD, p. 48.
7 The Jews! Your Majesty by Goran Larsson, ©1989, Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies and Research, Jerusalem, Israel, p. 22.
8 From a private correspondence.
All Scripture references are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.
Category: Biblical Studies, Pneuma Review, Spring 2003
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