Jesus and Judaism-continued

Jesus and Judaism
part 3

In Genesis 2:1, it was written that God rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made. The seventh day was blessed and hallowed because He had finished creation relative to earth and its needs. God did not rest because He was tired. Isaiah 40:28 teaches us: Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.

So, a special memorial of creation was established by the Lord. A day of rest. Exodus 20:8 picks up the theme; remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. That particular day was hallowed by the Lord Himself. Not only do the ten commandments mention that Gods name is holy, but they also express that a certain day is holy.

Elsewhere, in Exodus 31:16-17, the sabbath is said by the Lord, to be a symbol of His covenant with Israel, throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It was said to be a "sign" between God and the children of Israel for ever. Jesus, being raised by a Jewish mother, was well aware of these teachings.

"Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant."

Since the Christian Bible wrote in 1Peter 2:22, that Jesus was sinless, and had no deceit in his mouth, we safely assert that he kept the shabbat, and observed all Jewish laws as handed down by Moses and the elders. What else would we expect of a good and observant Jew?

Jesus and Judaism-continued

Jesus and Judaism-continued

Part 2
It seems difficult for Christian's to hear that the man Jesus never attended church. But when we realize the biblical sources about his life, it's quite clear that he attended a "synagogue." What is a synagogue? It is the normal place of worship for the Jew, since the Temple no longer exists. Yiddish speakers used the term "shul" (school) instead of synagogue. The Greek term "sunago" (Strong's Concordance # 4863), means, to lead together, to collect or convene, which is farther explained as an assemblage of persons.

In a limited sense, it is similar to the Greek term that was rendered "church" (ekklesia), which was used by Christians for their houses of gathering to worship, but was not a reference to the building, rather to the people. Jews do not use the term church to refer to their houses of worship and study.A prophecy by Ezekiel in chapter 11 and verse 16, which mentions the scattering of Israel and inhabitants of Jerusalem far off among the heathen, has strong indication that synagogues or shuls may be "little sanctuaries." Although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.The Hebrew term for little santuaries is l'mikdash me'at. The root for mikdash is the same term used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the Holy Tabernacle, when God told Moses and Israel to make for Him a sanctuary that He may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8).

Thus, the term "little sanctuary" (KJV Bible), may have prophetic significance in that it relates to synagogues. Judaism has continued despite loss of Temple, or exile of Jews, and although the Temple existed in the time of Jesus, there also existed in Jerusalem about 460 or 480 synagogues, according to exaggerated Jewish traditions (Jer. Kethub. 35c. and Jer. Meg. 73d).If Jesus attended synagogues throughout Israel during his time, when did he attend them?

Our 12 sources in the Christian Gospels clarify that it was on "sabbath" day. But what is sabbath? In Hebrew, the correct transliteration is "shabbat." The word sabbath was taken by English translators from the Greek, rather than the Hebrew sources. Thus the "sh" sound is missing (shabbat/sabbath).
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