Jesus Christ - a most Holy Heretic

Just like any great reformer, Jesus openly criticized what was less than ideal about the Judaism of
his day, and yet he always did so against a backdrop of what he appreciated about the same. Much like
Deutero-Isaiah (the author of Isaiah chapters 40-55, one of Jesus' most beloved Old Testament prophets 6 ), Jesus sought
to uphold and strengthen the Jewish culture by reminding his religious compatriots that God (or YHWH,
who Jesus affectionately referred to as Abba – see Mark 14:36) was not a harsh external tyrant as much as He was
a warm internal guide; that religion was not about going through ritual motions in order to please the
priests and Pharisees, but was rather about enlivening the selfless Love of the heavenly Father in order
to honor the same. For Jesus, Judaism had devolved into a dry & hollow practice that worshiped a god
of the past, instead of being what it should be – an open appreciation for the overarching spiritual
essence (God – or YHWH – or Adonai – or Abba) that was very much alive (although often only latently so) within
the heart of every human being and within the shared core of every human interaction. As Deutero-
Isaiah himself wrote: “Remember not the former things or consider the things of old. For I am about to
enliven a new thing, and even now it is springing forth. Can you not perceive it? See, I am making a
new way through the wilderness. I am forming rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19) And this is
precisely what Jesus did over & over & over again in the Gospels with regards to the Old Testament –
making a new way through the wilderness of stagnant laws and unsound regulations; forming a river of
“living water” (John 7:37-39) through the arid teachings of the pious priests and proud Pharisees.
And that is precisely what this tome promises to prove – namely, that Jesus was neither a
spineless follower of Judaic tradition nor an arrogant denouncer of the same. Yes, he was indeed bold
in his criticisms of the Law wherever it was capricious &/or unjust, and yet his intentions were ever to
amend and reform Judaism thereby; to full-fill the Law – and thereby Judaism with it.
Jesus Christ: holiest of heretics – amender of the Mitzvot
While there have been many attempts to officially codify the divine commandments contained in
the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Torah) and while the debate
continues to smolder as to how many laws actually existed in Jesus' day (as well as how many of them are
still viable today), the majority of those in the Jewish community accept Maimonides' list of 613 legal
edicts as the correct enumeration thereof – with 365 “negative commands” calling for the abstention of
certain deeds and 248 “positive commands” calling for the fulfillment of others 7 .
6 Even a casual glance at the writings of Deutero-Isaiah (or “Isaiah II”, the author of Isaiah chapters 40-55) show that
Jesus was not only familiar with their contents, but that he also avidly supported many of their espousals. Indeed, solely
within these 16 chapters of Isaiah we find many of the themes upon which Jesus built his ministry and around which he
constructed his unique Gospel of active, selfless Love (see Matthew 24:12-14) – including reestablishing “the Way of
the Lord” (Isaiah 42:16, 43:16, 43:19, 48:17 & 51:10), casting aside fear & timidity (Isaiah 40:9, 41:10, 41:14, 43:1,
43:5, 44:2, 44:8, 50:10 et al), caring for his flock like a shepherd (Isaiah 40:10-11), embracing “the right hand of God”
(Isaiah 41:10 & 48:13), replacing the old with the new (Isaiah 42:9 & 48:3-6), offering sight to the blind (Isaiah 42:18-
20 & 43:8), bringing liberation to the oppressed (Isaiah 42:3-4, 49:9, 49:24-25, & 51:14), passing through the cleansing
“fire” (Isaiah 42:25, 43:2, 47:14, 48:10, & 50:11), honoring the essence of the divine “I am” (Isaiah 43:11, 43:25, &
51:12), knowing God's perfect Love & limitless grace (Isaiah 43:25, 44:22, 54:8-10, & 55:7), calling out the
foolishness of the wise (Isaiah 44:25), citing Truth as a hidden treasure (Isaiah 45:3), having a mouth like a sharpened
sword (Isaiah 49:2), shining “a light to the nations” (Isaiah 49:6 & 51:4), turning the other cheek (Isaiah 50:6),
awakening sleepers from slumber (Isaiah 51:9 & 51:17), blessing the feet of the Peacemakers (Isaiah 52:7), true
sustenance being spiritual (Isaiah 55:2), and accepting the ways of God over the ways of humankind (Isaiah 55:8-9).
7 Established 3 rd century Jewish scholarship claims that the number 613 represents the Hebrew numerical value of the
word “Torah” (611) combined with the first two of the original Ten Commandments – the only two commandments
believed to have been given directly by God. That same Talmudic tract also posits that the 365 “negative laws” coincide
with the number of days in the standard solar year, while the 248 “positive laws” reflect the number of bones and major
organs contained within the human body (see Makkot 23b-24a in the Babylonian Talmud).
11