Associating with the Assimilated
Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr
And as Jesus passed forth from
thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he
saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And
it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and
sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master
with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that,
he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are
sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance… The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a
man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom
is justified of her children… Whether of them twain did the will of his father?
They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you,
That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the
way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the
harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that
ye might believe him. – Matt. 9:9-13, 11:19, 21:31-32
Did our
Rebbe worry about custom, tradition or even Torah obedience when ministering to
others? No. He wasn’t worried about it. He knew that through love and acceptance
(which there is different between accepting the person and accepting their
lifestyle) that the compliance to Torah and a close walk with The Messiah would
eventually come. So why have many of us been guilty of harassing new comers and
potential Natsarim about kippahs, kashrut, beards and tzitzit? Our goal should not
be to change another or try and do the work of the Ruach HaKodesh for Him.
Rather, our goal should be to love, accept, educate, instruct and allow the
person to come to certain conclusions and change all on their own. The most successful
education that sticks is when you come to realizations and conclusions all on
your own. Yeshua never went around publishing His Messiahship, He wanted people
to come to that conclusion all on their own.
He saith unto them, But whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. –
Matt. 16:15-17
