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THE PROBLEM OF MESSIANIC
JUDAISM
PART 4
COMPETING VISIONS OF YESHUA IN THE NEWBORN APOSTLES:
THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIANIC CONFLICT, CONT.
The Spirit’s War against the Flesh over the Vision of Yeshua
The entrance of the
Pharisaic viper
spirit into the conflict between the views of Yeshua
moves our consideration of Messianism past the realm of immaturity to be
outgrown and into the realm of damning
error to be withstood.13
It moves us into the realm of
spiritual war. This raises the stakes at issue in our own
understanding of Messianism today, as well as in understanding
what was really happening behind the scenes between the
Jerusalem church and the Spirit’s maneuvering of the gospel to
other lands.
Because of the
Messianic view’s inherent susceptibility to Pharisaic
subversion, the Holy Spirit’s entire agenda to bring the
race-less gospel to all peoples is conducted under an unseen
cloud of spiritual war against the viper spirit infiltrating
the Jerusalem church. This war does not overtly appear until
Paul’s ministry. But much in the story in Acts before Paul—and
even about the way Acts is written—only makes sense when seen
in this light.
-
The Jerusalem Apostles: Men Caught in the Middle
When Paul wrote the
Galatians about the Spirit’s war against the flesh “so that you cannot do the things you would,” he was verily
describing the war over the hearts and minds of the
Jerusalem apostles; men who were unperceivingly trapped
under a conflict between the Holy Spirit and the viper
spirit of Judaism feigning friendship and belief in their
Yeshua, appealing to
their own remaining immaturity of vision of Him.
After Stephen, the
conflict between the Spirit’s Transnational message of
Yeshua and the increasingly poisoned Messianic view of Him
becomes the real but cloaked storyline driving the Book of
Acts—and the context underneath which the Jerusalem apostles
labor as “pawns.” The war is fought over men whose spirits
had been reborn of the Spirit’s superior revelation of the
Son of God, but whose minds had yet to graduate from their
early vision of the Son of Man—making them prime targets for
the subduction of their newborn vision back under the power
of the “brood of vipers.”
Due to the weakness of
their remaining human vision beneath this unseen conflict,
the Jerusalem apostles “could not do the things that they
would” to either mature the church or to further directly
oversee the gospel’s spread internationally. From Stephen’s
martyrdom forward, the Spirit purposely moves beyond the
apostles, shifting the dynamic for the gospel’s advance out of Jerusalem as already described. With this shift, He limits
their roles as the “point men” for channeling and defining
Yeshua’s message. Now, they are to become “followers after”
and affirmers of the Spirit’s actions through others outside
Jerusalem.
-
Peter, Cornelius and “Those of the Circumcision”
The outstanding early
display of the apostles’ ministry under this cloud of war is
Peter’s visit to Cornelius. The story of Peter’s visit in
Acts 10 is one of the most celebrated events in Acts, and is
considered a milestone in the bringing of the gospel to the
Gentiles—which it was. But this story can only be fully
appreciated when understood in light of the spiritual war
over Peter’s own soul—and over the entire church—regarding
the true vision of a Transcendent Yeshua.
The polarized energies
of the Spirit’s push to bring the glorified transracial
Yeshua to the nations and the Jerusalem vipers’ attempts to
confine Yeshua’s revelation to His original human heritage
comes into crystallized focus with this story—with Peter
caught in the middle. Here is what happened:
It is now 6-7 years
since Stephen’s stoning. The Holy Spirit having shifted His
dynamic outside Jerusalem, Peter is now following after the
Spirit’s work, tracking down reports of conversion outbreaks
in Judaea and Samaria. He’s no longer the initiating conduit
he was in Jerusalem, but is an affirmer of what the Spirit
is doing apart from him.
It’s in this affirming
role that at Joppa, well away from Jerusalem, the Spirit
gives Peter a vision of unclean beasts, telling him to “Rise,
Peter
kill and eat.” By this the Spirit instructs him to go
to the Gentiles—something Yeshua’s Spirit knows is still a
major hurdle in his mind. Obediently yet bewilderedly Peter
goes, and the Spirit falls on the Gentiles.
Yet in going to
Cornelius, Peter is clearly not “in command.” Unlike at
Pentecost, he is not the channeling vessel fully allied with
the Spirit. He has come rather almost as a “bystander,” to
witness and affirm something the Spirit is going to do on
His Own quite in
spite of Peter.
The glaring contrast between Peter’s role at Pentecost and
now begs deeper scrutiny. Key questions leap out of this
scenario:
-
Given the major implications of this historic
approach by Yeshua’s lead apostle to Gentiles outside of
Judaism, why did the Spirit wait until Peter was miles from
Jerusalem, the central site of spiritual authority through
The Twelve, to give Peter this vision? (Why did not the
Spirit instruct Cornelius to go up to Jerusalem to find
Peter?)
-
Why did the Holy Spirit give Peter a vision of
unclean animals and command him to eat them (contrary to the
Law) in order to convey His instructions? Why did the Spirit
not just say, “Go to the home of Cornelius the Gentile?” And, why was it necessary
to give Peter this vision three times??
-
Why did Peter—who in his 4 years with Yeshua had
witnessed Him reach out to Gentiles on numerous occasions
(including Roman centurions), and who had received the
transcendent rock revelation of the Son of God—find it so
very difficult to make a simple visit to Cornelius?
-
Why was Peter—whose chief calling since the
Ascension was to be a witness of Yeshua “to the uttermost
parts of the earth,” and was told prior by Cornelius’
messengers that Peter had a message for him from God—still
so utterly clueless
as to the purpose for his mission that he had to ask
Cornelius why he sent for him after he arrived? (Ac. 10:29)
-
In his opening words to Cornelius, why did
Peter—who had learned of the true spirit behind the Law in
the Sermon on the Mount and who had watched Yeshua so
casually engage social “outsiders” in conversation—begin his
own first approach to Gentiles by quoting a Pharisaic
hyper-interpretation
of Dt. 7:2-3 citing the “unlawfulness” of associating with
Gentiles, and have to admit he had considered them as
“unclean??”
-
Finally, why was it only after Peter heard Cornelius’ opening
remarks that he was able to say, “Now
I thoroughly understand the truth that God is not partial,
but in every nation he who reveres Him and practices
righteousness is acceptable to Him” (Ac. 10:34-35)?14
These questions open up the veiled truth of the spiritual war
over Yeshua’s transcendent identity that formed the context of
Peter’s visit. Their answers give us a good composite of the
situation.
That Peter had spent so long with Yeshua, and yet had such
difficulty in going to Cornelius and was so slow to catch onto
the message of impartiality shows as that Peter was still so
undeveloped in apprehending Yeshua’s racial transcendence that
he had actually regressed from what he knew of Yeshua’s example during His human
ministry. Peter should have needed but a reminder of what he
had seen Yeshua do previously, not a great “vision” to justify
to him why it was OK to associate with and minister to
Gentiles.
That Peter admitted to personally struggling with racial
partiality and was quick to quote the Pharisaic
hyper-interpretation on “unlawful associations” shows that he
had come under the leavenous influence of the “converted”
Pharisees who continued to champion these prejudices. These
Messianic Pharisees, referred to by the Holy Spirit as “those of the circumcision” (Ac. 11:2), clearly held an intimidating
sway over Peter as seen from his need to “give account” to
them for obeying the Spirit over something about which Yeshua
had
already set precedent and given commission!
That the Lord’s lead apostle was now so swayable by Pharisaic
Messianism shows us in turn what was happening to the
Jerusalem church and why therefore the Spirit strategically
waited until Peter was well “out of town” to give him the
vision–rather than give it to him in Jerusalem or have the
Gentiles come to Jerusalem to hear the message.
Plainly and simply, the Jerusalem church was at best cool and
at worst hostile to the Holy Spirit’s mission to testify to
the Transcendent Son of God. And under its atmosphere, Peter
would have never listened to the Spirit to open this door—a
door that was already “busting open” of its own accord (or
ready to) in Antioch, Syria. As it was, Peter was in “a fog”
just hearing from the Spirit about this in Joppa
(never mind Jerusalem), remaining clueless even inside
Cornelius’ door.
All this shows just how bad the viper influence already was
in Jerusalem. Happily though, Peter was able to “wake up” from
his stupor long enough to recognize what the Spirit was
saying, put his witness to it for all generations, and to
stand up to “those of the circumcision” who—at least at that
point, had enough grace to relent of their prejudices. (But
not for long. For as the record will yet show, Peter
eventually returns to his fog under Jerusalem’s atmosphere and
will once more become man in the middle at the next open
battle between Pharisaic Messianism and the gospel of the
Transcendent Yeshua.)15
Before leaving this event, let’s
note one last vital point. In His vision to Peter, the Holy
Spirit links the cleansing of the Gentiles with the cleansing
of forbidden meats, a
point of Mosaic Law. By this, the Holy Spirit reveals in a single Breath that
Yeshua’s transcending of lineage
and the Law are
coequal concepts that apply universally
to Jews as well as Gentiles. By telling Peter to “rise,
kill and eat—that which God has cleansed,” the Holy
Spirit was as much revealing to Peter that the Law of
Moses had been lifted for Peter, hence for all Jews, as
that the Gentiles were received by God without racial
partiality. (But of course, Peter was totally unable to
perceive this.)
Peter’s visit was only
the first front in the Spirit’s battle against pharisaically
aggravated Messianism. It sets the tone for the other battles
to follow involving Paul. But as the first battle, it shows us
that the theater for this war was well established before Paul
became a factor.
-
Jerusalem: City Under a Death Watch
The
difficulty
of the apostles’ task in Jerusalem was compounded by the
relentless opposition of the religious authorities. The
believers were being beaten and imprisoned just for
proclaiming Yeshua as Israel’s human Messiah, never mind any
idea of His divine national transcendence. Stephen had been
killed just for daring to preach Yeshua’s legal
transcendence. So there was a constant unspoken threat of
death associated with crossing the “transcendence line.”
That added threat would have served to discourage the
apostles from pressing into the complete reality associated
with their new birth.
The
intensity
of opposition in Judaism’s capital city betrays a spiritual
state of siege the city was under, mirrored by the physical
siege it suffered under Rome until its final destruction. We
must understand that Jerusalem, including its temple system,
was under a “death watch” declared by Yeshua Himself before
His crucifixion (and which Stephen had also dared to
enunciate).
The
apostles
could not but be influenced by the presence of the decreed
death spirit hovering over the city. The blinding bondage
associated with the Judaistic principalities over Jerusalem
led Paul to describe Jerusalem as a city of slavery, and
caused John to identify it as Sodom. This overriding death
pallor impeded the apostles’ growth into a clear seeing of
their Lord in all His transracial, translegal splendor. As
long as they remained in Jerusalem, their growth would be
stunted and their ability to minister impaired.16
13
(Unless
spiritual immaturity eventually gives way to maturity,
it will regress into damning error.)
14 Where was Peter for four years during his time with
Yeshua? Either Yeshua always was racially impartial as
Peter now understands it (and therefore He still is),
or else Yeshua never was impartial and still isn’t.
For Peter’s revelation of Yeshua’s racial impartiality
to be true, only the first conclusion can be true: Yeshua always was
racially impartial and still is.
15
Peter’s
ongoing position as man in the middle of the great
conflict over the visions of Yeshua reveals the extent
of what Yeshua was praying for when He prayed that
Peter’s faith “fail not.” While Yeshua’s prayer was
immediately targeted toward Peter’s faith during the
crucifixion, it went much further to embrace his faith
concerning Yeshua’s transcendence, something which he
evidenced victory concerning by the time he wrote his
letters as we have them now.
16
Significantly,
of the three leading Jerusalem apostles, the two who
finally left for other lands (Peter and John) also
finally demonstrate their awareness of Yeshua’s
transcendent divinity among all peoples. But the one
who never left Jerusalem (James), also never leaves
record of having transcended his human view of Yeshua.
On the evidence we have, James never outgrew devotion
to his Jewish legal heritage as the human brother of
Yeshua. (Such is the last picture the Holy Spirit
leaves us of him in Ac. 21:20-25. We will discuss
James in more detail later).