TK Torah Keepers

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. (Mark 8:31-32 KJV)

After having fed a multitude of 5000, and then another 4000, liberating numerous people suffering oppression from spirits of uncleanness, cleansing lepers, and curing the blind, Yeshua revealed the path that he must journey down to accomplish his calling.  It was not a pleasant journey, but according to Yeshua, it shall, after three days, end well.  Peter, Yeshua’s chief disciple, however, immediately began to rebuke his Master.  The parallel account in the Gospel of Matthew gives a little more detail as to Peter’s rebuke.

Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. (Matthew 16:22 KJV)

It is interesting to note that Yeshua was prophesying exactly what would ultimately happen.  It is also interesting to note that Yeshua described these events as “necessary” (the Greek word is dei which means “necessary”) to the accomplishment of this divinely appointed purpose.  It was “necessary” according to YHWH’S divine purpose that the Son of man must suffer, die, and rise again.  Yet even hearing these words right from the mouth of the Master, Peter is unable to receive them.  For Peter, these words go against everything that he has hoped for, dreamed of, expected, and desired.  Peter has witnessed the Messiah in person.  Peter has observed the numerous lives transformed by the word and work of his Master.  Peter could imagine how great it would be to live in a Kingdom where such person as Yeshua reigned.  Peter could feel the presence of the Holy One in the person of Messiah.  Possibly for the first time, Peter could see what the Torah was really all about.  Peter was learning the difference between true, genuine, living faith and traditional religion.  While it seemed too good to be true, Peter knew that it was true.  All that he could possibly image the Kingdom of Heaven to be was living right before his eyes.  Peter had no doubt that Yeshua was indeed the promised Messiah come to restore all things.  When asked, Peter did not hesitate to confidently confess who he believed Yeshua to be.

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Messiah. (Mark 8:29 KJV)

Peter clearly understood who Yeshua was.  Peter observed all of these revealing and tell-tale signs that clarified who Yeshua was.  Peter had no difficulty believing that Yeshua was the Messiah.  The cause of Peter’s stumbling, was his failure to understand what it meant to be the Messiah.  Like most of the believers in the time of Yeshua, their hope for the Messiah was one dimensional.  This one dimensional Messianic hope is made evident in the disciples question to the resurrected Messiah.

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6 KJV)

The hope of all Israel is revealed in this single question.  All Israel was waiting for the Kingdom of Israel to be restored to its former glory as in the time of David and Solomon.  While the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel is indeed an important part of the Messianic promise it is but one part of a much larger promise.  The original Messianic promise was given much earlier in history.  In fact, it was first promised in the Garden of Eden.

At the fall of Adam and Chavah all humanity became ensnared in sin and subsequently death.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12 KJV)

Thus YHWH promised that there would come one who would indeed reverse the effects of this fall.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15 KJV)

The original Messianic hope was that a promised “seed of the woman” would come that would finally reverse the fall and release all humanity from bondage to sin, fear, and death.  With each child born throughout history this ember of hope would be kindled and then quickly extinguished.  After Israel entered the Promise Land and established the monarchy, becoming a powerful and glorious kingdom, the Messianic hope of the people changed.  No longer were people looking primarily for deliverance from bondage to sin, fear, and death, but from the occupation and oppression of various conquering political systems.  In the time of Daniel people were looking for freedom from the emperor of Babylon.  In the time of Nehemiah it was freedom from Persia.  In the days of the Maccabees it was from the Selucids.  In the days of Yeshua it was deliverance from the occupation and oppression of the Roman Empire.  While the re-establishment of the kingdom of Israel is an important part of YHWH’S plan for the restoration of all Creation, it is not the goal but a means.  But for those living in the occupied land it was what they saw, smelled, tasted, heard, touched and endured in the carnal realm of their daily existence. 

This intermediary step of restoration had for most people of Peter’s time become the focal point and goal of their hope.  The restoration of the Kingdom to Israel meant that they would once more be a self-ruled people free from foreign tyranny. Note that this hope had little to do with matters of salvation.  For most believers, even today, the focus of their hope resides only in what they are presently experiencing in the course of their daily existence.  In other words, we are looking for when the Sovereign One is going to deliver us from our mortgage payment, unemployment, economic hardship, a bad marriage, an oppressive employer, a physical illness, or renegade government.  Most believers, like Peter, can hear only that part of the promise of YHWH that affects their present daily life and circumstances.  We all tend to build our hopes, not upon the promises of YHWH, but upon the particular part of the promise that will solve or address our current circumstance or most pressing crisis.

Peter had clearly grabbed a hold of the promise that the Messiah would come and make life better.  Peter saw in Yeshua the potential for all of his hopes for the restoration of Israel to become reality.  Peter could neither see nor hear beyond his own hopes and dreams.  In other words, Peter’s expectation was built upon his own hope and not the promise and word of God.  This is quite evident in Peter’s response to Yeshua’s prophecy of what the Messiah must endure.  Clearly, rejection, persecution, oppression, arrest, trial, conviction, and a death sentence did not fit Peter’s limited self-hope, even though all of these things were consistent with the word of God and necessary for the accomplishment of his divine plan.

Hope is an important virtue.  But we must all be careful that our hope is solidly grounded in the word of God, and not simply in our own desires and dreams.  When Peter rebuked the Messiah, he revealed that the hope he held was inspired by his own heart’s desires and not the by the Spirit or Word of YHWH.  While we all have our personal hopes, as followers and disciple of Yeshua, we must be careful that we are not allowing our personal hopes and dreams prevent us from submitting to and fulfilling the genuine will of the Father.  While our dreams and ambitions may indeed be righteous, noble, good, and sincere, it they are not the will of the Father, then they serve only to distract us from the path that we must eventually follow.  I have, on more than one occasion, built monuments of ministry which served only my own ambitions, and though very successful from a worldly point of view, had little of nothing to do with the work of YHWH.  As a Lutheran pastor I labored extremely hard to build up that which I now realize was completely contrary to the will of the Sovereign One.  I did this with the best of intentions and the noblest of ideals, but it was not what the word of YHWH commands. 

Few of us will ever choose the path that leads to the cross.  Most of us envision ministry in the most romantic of terms.  But the cross is what Yeshua was called to endure.  While the logic of Yeshua’s suffering, death, and resurrection escaped Peter’s thinking, the infinite wisdom of the Creator has been clearly vindicated over time.  As the body of Messiah we too must follow the same path to the cross.  While this path may seem contrary to all that we hoped, dreamed and imagined for ourselves, it is, nonetheless, the path that the Father has called us to.  Even our hopes, dreams, ambitions, and expectations must ultimately be surrendered, if we are going to give ourselves wholly to the service of YHWH.   We may recall the words of YHWH,

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV)

It is true, that our thoughts are not YHWH’S thoughts.  Many of us pray that YHWH will come around to see everything the way we do, and to grant us our thoughts, dreams, desires, and hopes.  But in truth, the calling we must is embrace, calls us to the take our thoughts, dreams, desires, and hopes to the cross, that we may indeed share the Creator’s thoughts, and make our ways conform to his ways.