September 8, 2013
Rope to Thread
Definitions! What do we really understand from the words that we use? Recently, a “Mother’s Dictionary” was written that includes some ways mom understands certain words, including; Bottle feeding: an opportunity for daddy to get up at 2-am also. Defense: What you’d better have around de yard if the children are going to play outside. Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert. Full name: What you call your child when you’re mad at him. Grandparents: the people who think your children are perfect even though they’re sure you’re not raising them right. Independent: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say. Prenatal: When your life was still somewhat your own. Show off: A child who is more talented than yours. Top bunk: where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies. Verbal: Able to whine in words.
We had better understand clearly what Messiah really means when we read the focus scripture of Luke 14:25 through 33. There is so much controversy over this passage, particularly verse 26, since most of us first heard it through the King James translation. There it reads, “If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
Let’s clear up this troubling issue that appears to be a blatant contradiction when compared to other scripture. Very clearly we are told to love one another throughout the scriptures, and here Yeshua is apparently saying that to be a disciple we must “hate” even family!?
This passage as read to you moments ago, is from the Aramaic, with a direct translation to English by Dr. George Lamsa, who does not use the English “hate” but rather translates to “put aside”. You may be a total believer in the King James version as the ordained translation of the Word of God, but this time the King’s translators got it wrong. Holding on to the King James use of “hate” goes against the Ten Commandments where we are told to honor our father and mother. Paul reinforced that thought in Ephesians 6. Look at Deuteronomy 21:18 where we find that the Law makes obedience to parents so important that continued rebellion is a capital offense. Then as husbands, we are instructed to “love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” See Ephesians 5:25. Turning to First Timothy 3 and Titus 1, we find that being a good husband and dad is a prerequisite for being a leader in the church.
Another reason we must look carefully at the original intent, is found in Matthew 5:21, where the same Greek word is translated into “hate”. In Luke 14:26 the same word is used to express feelings one might have if there is intent to murder another. Then in First John 3:15 we read, through Dr. Lamsa’s translation, “Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” So then, how did the King James translators come to use the word, “hate” in their translation of this quote by Messiah in Luke 14?
Dr. Lamsa was right in using “put aside” in place of “hate” as a legitimate meaning in Luke 14. But what did the Greek word mean when it was originally translated from Aramaic? The Greek word used is mis-eh’-o, which has several possibilities, with “hate” being one, the most intense. This is where the King James translators went straight to the first option, seeing that the prime root for mis-eh’-o is hatred, which is of the magnitude that you could kill. What was missed were the next options, with the one making the most sense being “love less”. This replacement causes the passage in Luke 14 to fit the rest of scripture about our relationships with families, Christian community and even our enemies.
Our relationship with the Teacher and with God must be put in context, correct context, which is what Yeshua was saying as a condition of being a disciple. It is sad that a mistranslation has so twisted understanding for centuries.
An excellent example of commitment to be a disciple is found in the story of Peter and his brother Andrew, then James and John. When the Master called, as we find in verses 20 and 22 of Matthew four, they walked away from everything, that moment, and followed Christ. In the case of James and John, we read, “So they immediately left the ship and their father; and followed him.” Does not this verse best describe what Messiah meant when He said, as Dr. Lamsa translates; “put aside” their father to follow the Master? There is nothing in the passages of Matthew 4 that indicate that James and John “hated” their father, while mis-eh’-o was also used in this scripture; these two disciples immediately and dramatically changed their priorities when given the opportunity to follow Messiah.
Priorities then are changed when confronting the reality of living a better and Godly life. Yet, we have been bombarded by a feel-good theology that attracts so many in the current generations. There’s nothing wrong in feeling good about following the teachings of the Anointed One, who came to lead us to God, yet the journey is not always easy or ever-lasting pleasant.
Another New Testament story makes the point. Mark 10:17 is where we find the story of the young-rich guy who approached the Teacher with a question. The verse reads, “While he was on the way, a man came running and fell on his knees and asked him, saying, O good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit life eternal?”
Jesus asked him, “You know the commandments?” He included in that list of ten, “Honor your father and mother.”
The man answered, “Teacher, all of these things I have obeyed from my boyhood.”
“You lack one thing,” said Jesus, “go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor; and you shall have a treasure in heaven; and take up your cross and follow me.”
The guy felt sad because he had great wealth. He made his choice by keeping his misguided priorities intact. In this case, he thought more of the power money brought him than something that would give him eternal life. After all, he could see and enjoy his earthly wealth. This young man saw no alternative to his attitude toward his money. Instead of allowing the Master to be in control of his life and his money, he wanted that position and decided to keep it.
The Master turned to the disciples watching this scene and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter into the kingdom of God! The disciples must have looked at Jesus as if He had lost His senses, so the statement was repeated. Now here is where understanding original intent and language is important. Verse 25 correctly reads, “It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
The same Aramaic word for camel also means rope. Again, the King James translators chose the first option for the word and wrote the word “camel” into the verse. Christian teachers then invented the idea of a small opening in a city wall for people to travel and called it a “needle”. No doubt you have heard the stories about a camel getting on his knees to walk through a “needle” to explain the verse. The problem is, neither the Aramaic nor Greek word for “needle” is used nor understood as an opening in a wall to make such a claim. The Greek for “needle” is kraf-ece’, which means “something you sew with” and nothing about an opening in a city wall. What’s the point, you ask? Original intent is important to understanding the Word of God as it was meant to be, such as we are not to “hate” our family members to follow Christ, but keep our perspectives in line. If “setting aside” our parents to follow Immanuel is necessary, then we will, while still honoring them as our father and mother.
In these two stories involving words spoken by Messiah, we have mistranslations, making it sound more difficult and virtually impossible to follow Him and reach heaven if we are rich or think we must despise our family members. Yet, the desire to have eternal life and follow the Master is not at all impossible or impractical. Verse 28 of Mark 10 quotes Peter, who responded to the incident involving the young rich guy, “We have left everything and followed you.”
And Jesus replied, “There is no man who leaves houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of my gospel who shall not receive now, in this time a hundredfold, houses and brothers and sisters and maidservants and children and fields and other worldly things, and in the world to come life everlasting.”
This sounds confusing! He just said the rich will find it as difficult to enter the kingdom of God as threading a rope through a needle, and then He said that if we follow Him we will be rich by earthly standards. Is it a matter of money or things that keeps us from God, or the perceived power that money brings with it? Could it be that the difference in making it to heaven after being rich on earth is getting the “horse before the cart” as we would say in reversing the old cliché? The young rich guy who had followed the law to the “t” wanted his earthly stuff more than changing his code of conduct to that of the Master’s teaching. The Law was one thing; his focus was another. It is very likely that had this young guy sold all he had and did give it to the poor and followed the Christ, he would have been rich again, but this time, he would have had a perspective and code of conduct in line with Yeshua’s teaching.
Last week we studied Luke 14 through verse 14, where the Pharisee brought Jesus to a place where he thought Messiah would place himself in a position of importance, but He did not. Instead, the instruction was to let others place you in a position of prominence. Seldom does a person with lots of money keep it a secret, or submit to humility. Apparently, the young rich guy who approached Yeshua was flaunting his wealth for the submission it placed on others. He wanted authority over others and his eternal life as well. James 1:12 is where we learn of the test for eternal life. The verse reads, “Blessed is the man who endures temptations; for when he is tested, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.” What temptation do you need to resist if you can buy your way out of trouble?
We know there are important things in life, yet there are the world’s priorities, and those identified by the Christ. Preaching the kingdom of God, or being under the control of God’s rules, is emphasized in Luke 9:60, which reads, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” Jewish tradition of the time regarding burial was not a minor issue. In ancient Israel and the Near East, extravagant and elaborate provisions for the deceased were well known. People in Mesopotamia thought it abhorrent to leave a dead person unburied. So to make the comment, “let the dead bury the dead,” was shocking, and would be as absurd as saying today that we should leave a loved one’s body on the ground. Giving a decent burial, even to a stranger, was equivalent to giving bead to the hungry and clothes to the naked. With the instruction, “let the dead bury the dead, you go and preach the kingdom of God” means nothing is more important than living within the code, the rules of the King and convincing others to do the same. And neither is a burial ceremony, riches, family or anything on earth so critical as preaching and accepting your place in the kingdom of God.
We have seen where the disciples left their nets, or their trade, their father, or their family and everything they had to follow Messiah. And, we have seen where the rich young man could not leave his stuff to enter the kingdom of God, so he went away with sorrow in his heart, but not enough sorrow that he could walk away from his happiness that he called wealth. By following the Anointed one, we are entering the kingdom, so it’s right that we ask, “where is the kingdom?” By physically following Yeshua around, the disciples were learning about the kingdom and its glory, but what about now? Can we live in the kingdom or should we wait to set aside family and wealth to follow the Christ now, or wait until death or His return?
Luke 17:20 begins a series of verses that appear confusing still again! The confusing part is about the kingdom; is it now or in the future? You be the judge. Verse 20 begins, “When some of the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, he answered, saying to them, “the kingdom of God does not come by observation, neither will they say, behold it is here, or behold it is there! For behold the kingdom of God is within you. And he said to his disciples, the time will come when you will covet to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. And if they should say to you, behold, he is here, and behold, he is there, do not go.”
This passage differentiates the kingdom of God and the “day of the Son of Man.” If Luke 17 is correct, then we should be living today in the kingdom of God, living today by the rules God has given to humanity, living now in the Code of Conduct that we know brings success. Being a part of the kingdom of God is a choice we all are faced with, just as the rich young guy who could not see the kingdom but certainly could see his wealth and all it meant. If Messiah had offered him membership in a club or fraternity, and if his money could buy a membership that meant eternal life, no doubt, he would have signed up on the spot, but membership in the kingdom of God means a behavioral change by giving his power to God and not his cash, and such change he could not accept. Loving something, even money, more than God sets us off on the wrong path.
To excuse our behavior or support our thinking, we often accept a sugar-coated definition or explanation. Sometimes we find a teacher or preacher who says what we want to hear and boost our self esteem. Still, the kingdom of God is where we must live, what we must accept to have eternal life. And, according to Luke 17, the kingdom of God is within you.
We know the song and sing it often, yet many get the wrong mental picture to the words of Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” This is what the young rich guy didn’t get; putting the horse in front of the cart, living by the Word of God so the rest would result from God’s Law of cause and effect being put in motion. Live in righteousness, and all these things, including earthly riches will be added to you here and now, according to Mark 10.
So, you’re already wealthy? Take the power out of your money and give that power to God, and that rope will be reduced to the single-important thread that will go through the needle. Do you want to be wealthy? Leave family, attitudes and stuff behind that keeps you out of the kingdom and His righteousness. It’s that simple.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
©2013, J. Tilton
