January 2026

10-January-2026

Shemot

Brit Hadashah Reflections 13

Haftarah portion Isaiah 27 : 6 – 28 :13 and 29 : 22,23

Hebraic understanding of the Gospel of Yeshua

The gospel of Mark is the shortest, and probably the first written, account we have of life in Israel when Yeshua walked this earth. Mark does not ‘beat about the bush’! He starts with “.. the gospel of Messiah Yeshua, the Son of God”. No qualification, no apology, no ambivalence, no ambiguity, ‘because I met Him, walked with Him, learned from Him and I was there when He left this earth and ascended to His Father in Heaven’, he might be saying.

Then he began his story, it’s like a ‘once upon a time’ opening. Having established that Messiah Yeshua is the subject, he takes a step back to tell us that John, Yeshua’s cousin, was the personal fulfilment of prophecies that indicate that the way would be prepared for Messiah. Look at Exodus 23:20, Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. (references which are made very convenient for us today, but at the time of Mark’s writings there were no chapter and verse divisions in the parchment scrolls of Scripture).

And what was the message of John as he ‘prepared the way’? Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. We may be tempted today to think of water baptism as a relatively modern invention of the church. But it is a practice which was instituted when God gave Torah, His instruction for righteous living, to Moses. It was a preparatory ritual of cleansing for those who were to appear before a holy God. And to understand the Hebraic tones of the gospels, we need to know what the sin is from which repentance is required. In our churches we are usually taught that ‘that sin’ is some personal misdeed or attitude. Well, that could be right, BUT, ‘the sin’ (‘chata’ a Hebrew word which means ‘to miss the mark’) which our Bibles teach, is the blatant neglect of “Torah”, God’s instructions. Yeshua taught that He was sent ‘only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’. (see Matthew 10 and Matthew 15). They were following what He called the ‘traditions of men’ rather than the Torah of God which was given to Moses. Hence they were ‘lost’.

Additionally, we are informed that as He was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum (now a well preserved and excavated tourist site in the Galilee), that those present were astonished at His teaching, because He taught with a freshness of insight, and with an authority of His own, not, as was commonly taught by other teachers, in the name of some previous Rabbi.

When Yeshua was confronted by the paralysed man let down through the roof of Peter’s house, obviously knowing why he was brought there by his friends, He chose to say “Son, your sins are forgiven you”. Now the religious men there, familiar with the Scriptures, knew that this was an act of God alone (see Isaiah 43:25 and Jeremiah 50:20). So, to them, this appeared as a blasphemous statement. Then Yeshua, discerning their thoughts, addressed the paralytic man, “.. arise, take up your bed and go to your (own) house”. Clearly illustrating His credentials as both healer and forgiver of sins. God Himself in a human body.

Then follows the calling, as a disciple, the hated tax gatherer Matthew, called Levi in Mark’s gospel, and had a meal with him and other tax collectors. Bringing from Yeshua His famous remark “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. Tax gatherers were a hated clan, their very occupation requiring them to be official thieves and robbers. And as servants of the Roman rulers, even more despised. Yeshua’s words in Mark 2: 21,22 give us an insight into His motivation for selecting as his disciples men who had no ‘religious’ baggage. The ‘new wine’ is the revelation of Himself, His person, His identity, His calling, His mission. The Scriptures are full of clues and references to His coming, both then, and on a future occasion. Many of them, and many of us, are blinded by the ‘religious’ teaching we have received, so that we cannot recognize Him as He is, and what His requirement is of us. I have said in previous ‘reflections’ that we worship God in what we do, not in what we say. It is how we live our lives, not in what we say we believe. Yeshua called these fishermen and tax collectors to Himself and they were immediately transformed from a previous lifestyle to a new lifestyle, it showed. It is quite “Hebraic” in its outworking. It’s a doing thing.

Our reading concludes with an unequivocal reference to the Sabbath Day. The fourth commandment says “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (set apart)”. Yeshua says He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and that the Sabbath was made for man, for man’s benefit and delight, for man’s rest and pleasure. Enjoy it in His company.

Shabbat Shalom

03-January-2026

Vayechi

Brit Hadashah Reflections 12

Torah portion Genesis 47 : 28 – 50 : 26

Haftarah portion 1 Kings 2 : 1 – 12

Brit Hadashah Matthew 26:1 - 28 : 20

Hebraic understanding of the Gospel of Yeshua

Such a lot of ground to cover. Yeshua had just concluded a long teaching on living a pure Torah lifestyle. He gave His disciples a glimpse into the future when He would rule and reign as King in Jerusalem. He described a time of judgement when nations would be judged according to their actions and lifestyle. He described that as separating the ‘sheep’ from the ‘goats’. In today’s language quite politically incorrect .. but factual. And sadly, many Christian believers today STILL don’t get the message!

And in this week’s parashah, He brought them back to the reality of His mission. “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” What a contrast. From the “King” in chapter 25, to the “criminal” in chapter 26.

We are usually good at anniversaries aren’t we? Ask your friend at your church when is Passover next year. Then ask why don’t we celebrate the death and resurrection of Yeshua at that time. Of course, you know the answer. The pagan Easter has taken its place. We appear to have forgotten the Jewishness of our Messiah. This is just another important reason to gain a Hebraic understanding of the Scriptures.

Chapter 26 has the account of what we refer to as ‘the last supper’. It was intended, just like Passover, to be an annual remembrance. But it has become a more frequent ritual in its christianized celebration of ‘communion’ or ‘breaking of bread’. Verse 28 quotes the words of Yeshua “For this is My blood of the covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (some Bibles include the word ‘new’ before covenant, but that is not in the Nestle-Aland or the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament translations). Never-the less, the blood of the covenant (which they broke) which Moses sprinkled on the people as a sign (Exodus 24:8) is replicated here by Yeshua in His own blood, as a sign and guarantee of the covenant which is, one day, to be made with the House of Judah and the House of Israel. The only difference between those covenants (both of which require the God ordained Torah centred lifestyle) is that the next covenant, the one guaranteed by the blood of Yeshua, is unbreakable because it will be written on hearts and put in minds by God Himself.(read its full text in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8).

Yeshua, was arrested, and eventually interrogated, in front of the Jewish Sanhedrin by the Sadducee Caiaphas, the serving High Priest at that time. There are two important Hebraic matters to observe here. Firstly, Yeshua remained silent (Matthew 26:62,63) during this interrogation until put under oath by Caiaphas. As an indication of His perfect Torah observance, Yeshua confirmed His identity as Son of God. The requirement of Leviticus 5:1 would have rendered Him complicit in deceit had He remained silent at that point. And secondly, Caiaphas tore his priestly garments, in direct violation of (Leviticus 21:10) a Torah command. By this action he effectively disqualified himself from his duties, one of which, the next day, was to sacrifice the Passover lamb. The significance being that Yeshua became the Passover Lamb, but was not sacrificed by the appointed High Priest. But rather, in His own appointment as our Great High Priest, offered Himself as that sacrifice.

The final ‘reflection’ on this parashah is in relation to the Scripture we all know as “The Great Commission”(Matthew 28:18-20). “Go and make disciples of all nations”.

Now, making disciples was not an uncommon practise in Judaism. All the well-known, and unknown, Rabbi’s made disciples of themselves. A disciple is an imitator of his Master. The disciple would try to act, speak, think, dress, eat, and behave in exactly the way he observed in his Master. Then, in turn that disciple would eventually develop his own disciples. Here, Yeshua, is commanding, not to make disciples for themselves, but to make disciples of Himself. The result being that there is ONLY ONE Master, Yeshua Himself. And ONLY one teaching. Torah.

It is quite common, today, for people to declare themselves “disciples of Yeshua”. To what extent then should we, as His disciples, imitate Him? Well, the Apostle Paul says (Romans 11) that gentile believers become ‘grafted in’ to the natural Olive Tree, which is Israel. Furthermore that we become “partakers of the root and fatness of the Olive Tree”. We have seen how careful Yeshua was to live His life in accord with every aspect of God’s instructions for righteous living (Torah). What about us?

May God grant us wisdom to understand the Scriptures, not as others may have misguidedly taught us, but as the very Word itself declares?

Shabbat Shalom