Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repen­tance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1–2)

Within the biblical record we find a concept called middah k’neged middah, or “measure for mea­sure,” quite frequently. The book of Genesis is filled with examples we can clearly see. For instance, just as Jacob used deception and dis­guises himself in order to receive the blessing from his father Isaac, he is deceived by Laban and Leah is substituted for Rachel. Just as Jacob used the skin of a goat to deceive his fa­ther, the skin of a goat is used to deceive him into believing Joseph has died. Just as Judah lead his brothers in selling Joseph, making his father believe he is dead, both Judah’s sons Er and Onan were taken by the LORD allowing Judah to feel the pain of his father’s loss. Just as Pharaoh threw the Hebrew babies into the Nile, the Egyptian army was destroyed by the waters of the Red Sea. The list goes on and on.

We also have this principle explained to us in the light of the compensation for damages within the Torah with the expression “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” If a person is responsible for damaging another’s prop­erty, he is liable for restitution to the degree of damage.

In our previous edition of Dust of the Master, we made the observation that many times a Jewish text can help us better understand a teaching of Yeshua. We started by exploring the text of Mark 2:21-22. In this issue we will look at a traditional interpretation of this passage and then look at a few Jewish texts which will help us better understand Yeshua’s words in this instance.

Let’s first take a look at the traditional understanding of this passage. Here is a traditional interpretation pulled at random from an internet search:

Like old wineskins, the Pharisees had become too rigid in their lifestyle and in their traditions; they could not accept Jesus because he would not be bound by the rules they themselves had set. It was time for change where new approaches, new traditions and new structures were required… 

Luke 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, `The old is better.’ "

Jesus tells us in Luke 5:37-38 that the old and the new don’t mix-and shouldn’t but what He was giving us was something totally new; something fresh and exciting. Roman. 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.1