Y’All Come: An Invitation to G-D’S Neighborhood Issued by a Jew from Nazareth

By Jack W. Page Jr.

Yall Come seeks to understand G-ds call to Jesus the way that Jesus understood itto see the Jesus that Jesus saw. The Jesus of Yall Come was inviting Israel, the religious community, to join him as residents of G-ds neighborhood. He did so by teaching and modeling what life looked like in that neighborhood. By accepting Jesuss invitation, Israel would live into her chosen status as established by the Sinai covenant. She would become the holy nation of Exodus 19:6 and the light to the nations of Isaiah 49:6. She would do so by sharing the same holy light with other nations that Jesus had shared with her; she would teach and model the lifestyle in G-ds neighborhood. The journey that Jesus and Israel would share was strange and difficult. It ended in a way that neither side would likely have predicted when Jesus left Nazareth, bound for Jerusalem. Modern readers will likely find the journey to be equally strange, equally difficult, and equally unpredictable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512758306

Jack W. Page Jr.

Jack W. Page Jr. (MDiv/Duke, ’91) is a retired elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. He came to ordained ministry as a second career. His wife, Karen, calls it his “midlife crisis.” Jack served twenty-two years in parish ministry, retiring in 2009. He served as a member of a district committee on ordained ministry, district committee on church building and location (as chair), conference board on religion and race, and conference board of institutions. Jack began Y’all Come as a retirement adventure soon after Karen admonished him that he needed a project. Jack and Karen have three children, two of which are twins. They have six grandchildren, four of which are twins. They are often reminded of Elisha’s final request to Elijah (2 Kings 2:9). The Pages now participate in the ministries of Wake Forest UMC, Wake Forest, North Carolina.

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Copyright © 2016 Jack W. Page, Jr.

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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-5831-3 (sc)

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WestBow Press rev. date: 12/19/2016

CONTENTS

Eucharisteo

First Word

Lingo

Chapter 1 Jesus: Teacher and Role Model of G-d’s Radical Hospitality

Chapter 2 Seeing the Jesus that Jesus Saw

Chapter 3 The Law: Mitzvot and Halakhot

Chapter 4 The Temple and Priests

Chapter 5 Neighbors and Tablemates

Chapter 6 Gentiles

Chapter 7 Sinners

Chapter 8 The Opposition

Chapter 9 What Shall I Do with Jesus?

Notes

Ancient Writings

Talmud

Tanakh Pseudepigrapha

Dead Sea Scrolls

Bibliography

EGKAINIA

To my mother,

Frances Sue Foster Page

She suggested the title for the book

and for Chapter 1.

She also listened, encouraged, and offered suggestions.

Now 99 years old, sadly, she will only briefly

remember that the work is complete.

She will not be able to read the document

with understanding.

But she will still love me; and I, her.

EUCHARISTEO

I owe thanks to many for their assistance in bringing this book to life. I am grateful to Rev. Joel Guillemette, Rev. Donald Warren, Rev. Jimmy Weaver, ’Fessor Ken Graiser, Rabbi Steve Kirschner, Rabbi Jonathan Garard, and Dr. James M. Efird for reading the early drafts and offering suggestions. It is amazing how much wisdom I gained when all of those very bright people, in unison, looked me squarely in the eye and shouted, Jack, NO!! Their contributions have been numerous and significant, in several cases game-changing. Ken Graiser, my friend for half a century did double duty. As an Orthodox Jew and a splendid writer, he guided me to clearer understandings of modern Judaism and he greatly improved my prose.

Thanks to Jeannie Boyd for her important contributions to the final stages of the editing. Jeannie is a friend of long standing. She was the choir director in one of my former churches. When my boys were in high school, they were in her senior English class.

Thanks to Sharon Southard, head office boss at Wake Forest United Methodist Church, for printing and assembling the drafts. Thanks also to the Friends in Faith Sunday School Class at WFUMC. They allowed me to use them to test drive several passages from the manuscript. They asked helpful, probing questions, and offered much encouragement.

Thanks to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest for granting me a library card. Thanks also to the Franklin County (NC) Library system and the North Carolina interlibrary loan program. They enabled me to borrow books from the Duke University Library.

Thanks to my family for their help. They encouraged, questioned, and challenged They also allowed me space to work, even when I became a grouchy, old hermit for days at a time.

Finally, thanks to the folks at WestBow Press for their assistance with publishing and marketing.

FIRST WORD

Not so long ago and not so far away, a certain high-placed U.S. politician, a male, became the subject of a much publicized investigation due to a grossly distasteful dalliance in which he had supposedly engaged with a young, female government intern. In one session of those hearings, a lawyer asked that gentleman, Is such-and-such true about your relationship with Miss _________ ?

The politician answered with one of the most infamous one-liners in the history of American politics. It went something like, Well, that depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is.

Say what ?????

Nearly a generation has walked across the American landscape since that bit of political theater occurred. Today, the young intern has regained most of her former anonymity, the politician has been largely rehabilitated in the national vision, and the collective cry of disbelief and disgust we uttered after his verbal acrobatics has almost stopped echoing in the national ear. But we’ve learned our lesson. Sometimes it’s important to know what is is and what is isn’t. It’s an understanding which will make this book more useful. Please allow me offer you a brief description of what you have before you.

What Is Isn’t

First, this is not a scholarly book, even though quite a bit of research was involved in putting it together. I cannot claim to be a scholar. I do not have the rigorous educational background; nor do I have access to primary sources. The best I can claim is that this is a thoughtful book. But scholarly? Nope! Probably not.

But maybe that’s okay. I am convinced that what the world really needs today, especially the religious community, is not another scholarly tome. Basically, scholars write for other scholars. They read each other. They learn from each other. Then they write more books in which they criticize each other. Oh, my!

At this point, however, let me not lead you into error. Scholars are important. I am convinced that G-d created scholars on the second day. Remember! The sun, moon, and stars didn’t come along until the fourth day. So, what was the divine illumination which contrasted with the darkness on day two? It had to be scholars. G-d crammed the firmament full of really bright people, catalogued them according to field of expertise, and mapped where they could be easily found and put to use. After that, whenever earth creatures needed new knowledge - how to start a fire, how to turn a wheel, an understanding of formgeschichte¹, or production of a 64 gig flash drive - G-d would zap a scholar out of the firmament onto the earth to produce the desired effect. I have scriptural backing on this point. Pause for a moment to read Proverbs 8:1, 22-31. G-d called it good. (Here, I probably should append a smiley face or another icon which denotes tongue in cheek.)

We should understand, however, that religious scholars could not do their important work without some help from co-workers who are equally important, even if somewhat less celestial. At some point, thoughtful non-scholars have to start melting down the academic ice berg into a form which can be used by the folks in the pews of our synagogues and churches. That’s why G-d created rabbis and preachers: thoughtful folks, (perhaps scholarly too) who can help their flocks understand the lofty scholarship and put it to use in their everyday walk with G-d and neighbor along paths which are often meek and lowly.

As a final disclaimer, it should be understood that this book is not an evangelistic effort. It does not seek to convert Jews to Christianity, or vice versa. In fact, this book’s best result might move in exactly the opposite direction. It might serve to help both Jews and Christians better appreciate their own religious tenets and become more faithful to them.

That moves us toward the second half of our description.

What Is Is

This is a book about Jesus. To oversimplify, it is an attempt to see what Jesus saw when he looked at himself. Slightly more fleshed out, it is an attempt to examine Jesus’s understanding of the role G-d had chosen him to play, the work G-d had chosen him to do.

Jesus had some definite ideas about Israel (the religious community) and the relationship which ought to exist between Israel and G-d. G-d had been gracious in dealing with Israel. G-d had saved Israel from bondage and had made covenant to continue that gracious care (radical hospitality). But G-d also had expectations of Israel. Those expectations were stated in the covenants which G-d had offered to Israel, and those expectations had not always been met. This book intends to examine: (1) Jesus’s understanding of what G-d was expecting of Israel; (2) his understanding of what G-d was expecting of him; (3) his message to Israel, and; (4) how he hoped Israel would respond to that message.

In all that follows, I hope that both Jews and Christians will gain a richer understanding of Jesus as a faithful Jew embarked on an important Jewish project. In doing so, I believe they will gain a richer understanding of themselves as persons who, in their own unique ways, worship and serve the same G-d.

I hope Jews will see Jesus as a Jew who is worthy of respect. I hope they will accept him as one who worshiped the same G-d that they worship and who was guided by the same religious beliefs which guided other Jews during his lifetime. Most of those beliefs, although heavily nuanced over the past 2000 years, are still articles of faith for Jews today.

I hope Christians will see a Jesus who is more worthy of worship than they ever before believed. I hope to do so by helping them better appreciate the human side of Jesus. Many Christians allow Jesus’s humanity to be obscured by his divinity. That is unfortunate. I suggest that we cannot fully appreciate the concept of Emmanuel ("G-d with us") unless we first understand that Jesus, except for our bondage to sin, was as fully human as we are.

One final understanding may surprise all readers. It is highly unlikely that Jesus ever envisioned the creation of the organization which we call Church: a religious community, apart from Israel, which would go forth in his name seeking to bring people closer to G-d. He would have considered that development to be unhelpful. It could only slow Israel’s pace in completing the project for which G-d had chosen her.

Final Matters

I hope that readers will have some fun with this book. A few years back, Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee was running for the office of President of the United States. In doing so, he promised to keep his campaign upbeat and positive, to avoid the nasty name-calling of the other candidates. After all, he quipped, Who wants a President who is grumpy?

Well amen and hallelujah, Senator. That will preach, and more of us ought to preach it. Who wants an author, or a religion, that is grumpy? Throughout the ages, G-d’s promise has been that G-d’s faithful people will experience joy and goodness, not grumpiness, at least not from G-d. Thus, I shall strive to be un-grumpy, and I apologize here for the times ahead when I shall be a bit pedantic.

In my efforts to be un-grumpy, I have chosen to employ a writing style which leans towards folksy rather than formal. In doing so, I am disregarding the good counsel of friends who read the drafts and offered advice. They were unanimous in saying, If you want to be taken seriously, you have to write seriously. From a literary perspective, that may be true. But, folks, that’s just not who I am. In trying to sound like a scholar, I feel like a hypocrite. That seems dishonest, both with the book and with the readers. I pray that readers of this book will take Jesus seriously. Whether or not they take me seriously is a matter of less importance. I ask for understanding. All of my instincts are warning me that I will have trouble being honest with Jesus if I am not first honest with myself. I take some solace in remembering that neither Will Rogers nor Mark Twain were given to stiffly formal prose; but, the great truths in their writings were taken quite seriously by their readers.

In this volume, I have tried to use writing mechanics which are sensitive to the customs of some Jewish readers. For example, many conscientious Jews do not pronounce the name of G-d. It is considered ineffable, too sacred to utter. Neither do they write it out, less it possibly become defaced or erased, either by accident or through malice. Hence, the name Y-hw-h, which G-d revealed to Moses, is always represented in print by the tetragrammaton (Heb. Shem Hameforash) YHWH. When spoken, Adonai is substituted for YHWH. Even in personal correspondence between friends, G-d’s sacred quality is respected by omitting the vowel.

I should also add a brief word concerning vocabulary. In any work like this, a certain amount of technical jargon is necessary. Before moving into the book, I strongly suggest that other non-scholars take a long look at the Lingo (glossary) section which immediately follows this First Word. Especially note the distinctions drawn between Israel (common type), Israel (italics), and Israel (bold italics).

Finally, readers will notice that there are a few words and phrases which are recurrent themes throughout this entire document: Y’all come; G-d’s Neighborhood; radical hospitality, chosen, et al. Whenever these stock words and phrases appear, for emphasis, they will always be italicized, even though this is a highly unorthodox use of italics. I shall also italicize foreign words.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Let us begin. . .

LINGO

Note to other non-scholars.

I have placed this section at this point for a purpose. I urge you to give these words and phrases at least a passing glance before proceeding into the body of the book. They all carry freight which will help the reader understand that which follows. Christian readers will likely find this section more helpful than Jewish readers.

Aggadah – Rabbinic narrative in the Talmud and Midrash that is not halakhic, not carrying the force of law. Legends, allegories and other stories which give added meaning to the legal requirements.

Am ha-aretz – The people of the land, commoners, peasants, Jesus’s audience in the villages of Galilee.

Am Yisroel – The people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob/Israel. Better understood as a religious community (worshipers of YHWH), not as a geo-political community.

Amora (pl. – amoraim; adj. - amoraic) – The rabbis of the 3rd and 4th centuries CE who added the Gemara to the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds.

Apocalyptic – From the Greek word meaning revelation. A genre of literature that flourished in the world Jesus knew, c. 200 BCE to 100 CE. Highly dramatic stories featuring odd and colorful symbolism, pitting the cosmic forces of good and evil in mortal combat. Usually written during a time of persecution or other difficulty, readers were encouraged to remain faithful. In the end, G-d, or G-d’s emissary, would intervene on behalf of the righteous. The age of evil would end, and a more pleasant age, perhaps a paradise, would begin. (See Daniel 7-12, Mark 13, Revelation. Also see Eschatology.)

Apocrypha – A collection of writings, popular in some Jewish circles, which were included in the Greek Translation of Hebrew scriptures, the Septuagint, or LXX (Seventy). They were not accepted in the Hebrew canon (Tanakh).

Baraita – Teachings by the tannaitic rabbis which are not in the Mishnah. The Tosefta are the best known baraita.

Bavli – The Babylonian Talmud.

Bet Din – A rabbinic tribunal (Gk. – Sanhedrin) which had duties similar to those of a supreme court. The Great Sanhedrin had 71 judges; lesser sanhedrins had 23.

Bet Knesset – House of assembly, a synagogue.

Bet Midrash – House of learning, academy for the study of sacred texts, often attached to a synagogue.

Canon – Literally, a measuring rod: The Bible, holy scripture - a collection of writings which has been approved as the official standard for judging proper faith and practice in a religious community.

Derash – Rabbinic interpretation of scriptural mitzvot which seeks meaning beyond the plain sense of the text. (Contrast with Peshat.)

Egkainia – A dedication.

Eretz Israel – The Jewish homeland; the land of Israel.

Eschatology (Eschaton) – A system of belief about final matters: how history, or historic eras, would come to an end. In this system, it was thought that when the cosmic forces of evil were more powerful than the cosmic forces of good, or when there was a stalemate, an evil age would prevail on earth and bad things would happen to good people. This condition would continue until G-d, or G-d’s agent (Messiah?), intervened on behalf of the righteous. This appearance would be the eschaton, the decisive event which would precipitate the final battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Good would be victorious, a new age would be inaugurated, and the righteous would be rewarded. (More recently, numerous groups have linked eschatology with the end of human history as we know it.)

Eucharisteo – To give thanks.

Gemara – Rabbinic commentary on Mishnah to better explain the Tanakh. Together, the Mishnah and the Gemara comprise the Talmud.

Gospel – Good News. The Christian gospels are the first four books of the Christian scriptures (New Testament): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. They offer biographical information on the life of Jesus. Scholars disagree about how to distinguish between legitimate biographical material and gloss added by the early church. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because of their many similarities. (The Greek root word means to see together.) The fourth gospel, John, is a totally different genre.

Halakhah (Pl. halakhot) – Literally, a way to go. Teaching or instruction that is normative, having the force of law as a guide to proper behavior. Rabbinic commentary which explains the meaning of the mitzvot in the Torah.

Hesed – Mercy; lovingkindness; covenantal obligation. Hesed is similar to grace, but they are not totally equivalent.

Israel (plain type) – Israel as a political entity: in Jesus’s day, a Roman colony.

Israel (italics) – Israel as a religious entity, a faith community, the chosen people of the Sinai Covenant. (See am Yisroel).

Israel – (bold italics) – The True Israel; the reconciled and reformed religious community that Jesus knew G-d wanted Israel to become; the kingdom of priests/holy nation of Ex. 19:6 and the light to the nations of Is. 49:6.

Josephus – A Jew by birth (Joseph ben Matthias), Titus Flavius Josephus (37-100 CE) became a citizen of Rome and was a significant Roman scholar and historian in the first century CE. His works, to some degree, seek to show that Judaism was no threat to Roman power in Palestine. Modern scholars suspect that some of his works, as we have them today, may have been redacted by both Jewish and Christian editors.

Ketuvim – Writings; the third section of the Tanakh. Material that is neither Torah (Law) nor Nevi’im (Prophets). E.G. Psalms, Proverbs, Chronicles, et al.

LXX – See Septugint.

Masoretic Text (MT) – The version of the ancient Hebrew religious literature which was canonized as the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh).

Midrash (pl. midrashim) – Rabbinic teachings on scripture, both aggadah and halakhah, separate from those in the Talmud. Typically derash, seeking meaning beyond the plain sense of the text. (See peshat.)

Mishnah – Teaching; The Oral Law. A compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Tanakh which seeks to shed light on certain gray areas of scripture, especially in the Torah, where there were misunderstandings and disputes. It was codified c. 200 CE under the leadership of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi. (See also Gemara.)

Mitzvah (Pl. mitzvot) – A commandment or obligation, especially those in the Torah; also a kindness or good deed.

Nevi’im – The Prophets; the second section of the Tanakh.

Pentateuch – The Torah; the first five books of Hebrew scripture (Tanakh).

Pericope – A passage of scripture.

Peshat – Simple. Torah interpretation based on the plain sense of the text. (Contrast with derash.)

Pesher (Pl. pesharim) – In the Dead Sea Scrolls, a type of commentary which presupposes that the Biblical text under scrutiny has already been fulfilled.

Phylacteries – (See tefillin.)

Pseudepigrapha – Diverse group of pseudonymous writings, Jewish and Christian, from the intertestmental period. (See note 5, Ch. 1; also see listing in the appendix of ancient writings.)

Saint Augustine of Hippo – Born in North Africa in the mid-4th century to a Christian mother and pagan father (a minor Roman colonial official), Augustine was a brilliant student and thinker. In midlife, after years of spiritual struggle, he fully adopted the Christianity of his mother, was baptized, and accepted holy orders. As Bishop of Hippo, he was recognized for his efforts to recruit and train priests. His writings earned him recognition as the second (after St. Paul) great theologian of the church.

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) – Born into a reasonably affluent family, Francis spent his youth as a lustful party boy. In his twenties, after spending a year as a prisoner of war, then dealing with PTSD after his return home, Francis abandoned his former life style and became devoted to Christian mission projects. He founded the Franciscan Order of monks who are especially concerned with the poor and others who are disadvantaged.

Septuagint (abbreviated LXX) – Literally, the Seventy, for the seventy scholars who worked on the translation. The ancient Greek version of the Tanakh.

Synoptic Gospels – (See Gospel.)

Talmud – A massive rabbinic commentary (interpretation) on the Tanakh. (See Mishnah and Gemara.) Perhaps the Talmud’s most significant contribution has been its ability to help Jews adjust their religious life to new situations and understandings. Over the centuries, no matter how much the world has changed, Judaism has remained vital and relevant.

Tanakh – The Hebrew Bible. An acronym formed from the beginning letters of the three divisions of those scriptures: Torah (The Law; teaching, instruction); Nevi’im (the Prophets); Ketuvim (the Writings).

Tanna (pl. tannaim; adj. – tanaitic) – Rabbis from the time of Hillel (late first century BCE) until the time the Mishnah was completed (c. 200 CE).

Targum (Pl. targumim) – Aramaic translations of Hebrew scriptures.

Tefillin –