Yeshua’ Kin-dom of Heaven, Chapter 3

[Mt5:1-2] 1 Seeing the crowds, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his students came to him.

2 He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

[Lk 6:20-22xCS] 20 “I say Adonai’s preference is with you who are poor, for Heaven’s Kin-dom is yours.

21 I say Adonai’s favor is with you who hunger now, for you will be filled.

22 I say Adonai’s consolation is with you who weep, for you will laugh.

[Mt5:7,9xCS] 7 “I say Adonai’s goodwill is with the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.

9 I say Shekhinah’s backing is with those who make peace, for they will be called children of God.

[Tm69:1-2xCS] 1 “I say Shekhinah’s solace is with those who have been persecuted within their heart. 2 It is they who have truly come to know the Holy Spirit.

[Tm68xCS]  “I say Shekhinah’s assistance is with you when you are hated and persecuted; she will find a place for you in Heaven’s Kin-dom.

[Tm17=1Cor2:9:✡Is 64:3]

"I shall give you what no eye has seen

and what no ear has heard

and what no hand has touched

and what has never occurred to the human mind.

[Tm3:1-5]

1 "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,'

then the birds of the sky will precede you.

2 If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you.

3 Rather, the Kin-dom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.

4 When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known,

and you will realize that it is you who are the children of the living Mother and Father.

5 But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty

and it is you who are that poverty.

[Tm10=Lk12:49]  "Most certainly I tell you, I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes. [Tm82]  Whoever who is near me is near the fire, and whoever who is far from me is far from the Kin-dom. [Mk9:49-50] 49 For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

[Mt5:14a]  “You are the light of the world. [Tm32=+Mt5:14b]  A fortified city built upon a high mountain cannot fall, nor can it be hidden. [Mt5:15]  Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. [Tm24:3] There is light within a person of light, and they light up the whole world. If they do not shine, there is darkness. [Mt5:16]  Even so, let your light shine before all; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.

[Mt5:17-24,27-34,37-39]

17 “Don’t think that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For most certainly, I tell you, until Heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Torah, until all things are accomplished. 19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kin-dom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kin-dom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kin-dom of Heaven.

21 “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his sister or brother will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his sister or brother, ‘Empty-headed!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gei Hinnom (Gehenna, i.e. Hell).

23 “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

27 “You have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a man or woman to lust after them has committed adultery with them already in their heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gei Hinnom. 30 If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gei Hinnom.

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ 32 but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries one of her when she is put away commits adultery.

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Adonai your vows,’ 34 but I tell you, don’t swear at all: 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.  [Mt5:40xCS] If anyone takes away your coat, let him have your cloak also. [Mt5:41xCS]  If a Roman soldier compels you to carry his armor one mile, go with him two. [Mt5:42] Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away the one who desires to borrow from you.

[Mt5:43-48] 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father who is in Heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 48
Therefore become fully developed in your love, just as your Father in Heaven is fully developed in his love.

Introduction Part 2: Jesus was a Jew, his name was Yeshua, and he was a poor person of color.

Jesus was a Jew, and his name was really Yehoshua in Hebrew, and his everyday name in Aramaic was Yeshua!  Aramaic was the language closely related to Hebrew that the Jews came back from the Babylonian captivity speaking.  Therefore, Hebrew/Aramaic proper nouns will be used in this Gospel. First off, to respect and understand Yeshua we have to know him for who he was, and his whole identity was that of being a Jew.  Everything he understood about God was as a Jew.  He did not pull his good news out of thin air.  It was from his heritage as a Jew, from reading the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms and Proverbs, which, all combined, is what the Jews call the Tanakh (pronounced Ta-nax).  [We should call it the Hebrew Bible, not the Old Testament which infers that they need an upgrade.  And we should call the New Testament, the Christian Scripture.] Yeshua’s concepts of the Kingdom of Heaven were particularly formed by the prophet Isaiah.

A second reason to acknowledge him as a Jew and to use Hebrew/Aramaic names is to help reverse the unwarranted two thousand years of Christian anti-Semitism that have caused untold suffering for the Jews.  Along these lines Judas of Iscariot will not be portrayed as Yeshua’s betrayer since he is most likely a fictional Jewish scapegoat.  His name, Judas, literally means Judean or Jew.  So he symbolizes for the early Christians the Jewish rejection of Yeshua, even to the point of betrayal, and personifies anti-Semitism.

A third reason is for proper understanding of meaning in the Gospels.  When going to root words, we should, whenever possible, go to Hebrew/Aramaic--NOT Greek! (I will post a Hebrew/Aramaic-English glossary.)

If he was a Galilean Semite, then Yeshua was a person of color, olive to swarthy brown in skin color. So he was brown and poor, joining most of the human race then and today, rather than of white Anglo-European lineage.  Below is an illustration from the BBC Photo Library.  It is a forensic anthropology portrait of a 1^st century C.E. Galilean Semite.  Yeshua probably looked similar to this.  This portrait was produced by Richard Neave, a renowned medical artist, retired from The University of Manchester in England.  Using CT scans of skulls from the locale and era, forensic techniques to reconstruct facial features, art and historical descriptions from the time period, he was able to render what the average peasant would have looked like then.  The portrait is shown below.

Here is the link to an artcle about the process of producing the above portrait: The Real Face of Jesus - What Did Jesus Look Like?

For a more in depth, but very layperson readable treatment of this topic, I highly recommend the article "Jesus the Jew" by William Loader, Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Murdoch University, Australia and a Minister of the Uniting Church in Australia. Link to article: "Jesus the Jew" by William Loader

Next post is Introduction Part 3.