Brit Chadasha reading to accompany Parasha Mishpatim

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Matthew 5:38-42

38 "You have heard that our fathers were told, `Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you not to stand up against someone who does you wrong. On the contrary, if someone hits you on the right cheek, let him hit you on the left cheek too! 40 If someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well! 41 And if a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it for two! 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something from you, lend it to him.

These are strong admonitions from Yeshua. The law reads such that one one man loses from another is to be compensated by the one who caused it to suffer the same lose. Here Yeshua is telling us to not seek that. HaShem made this a ruling, which showed mercy and understanding for the lose of another, but not true chesed, lovingkindness. Yeshua was teaching what HaShem wanted for us and himself all along. As he says in Hoshea 6:6 I desired mercy ( chesed) and not sacrifice; and knowledge of G-d more than burnt offerings. What he is saying is he desires for us to show this loving kindness to each other as well, by not taking revenge in the form of an eye for an eye, but to forgive, to have that special mercy, and not want our brother to go without just because he has mistakenly taken something from us. This is G-ds desire towards us and for us.

What Yeshua is teaching here can be seen in Proverbs and was later spoken of by Paul:

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Proverbs 25:21-22 If someone who hates you is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap fiery coals [of shame] on his head, and ADONAI will reward you.

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Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but try to do what everyone regards as good. 18 If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people. 19 Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God's anger; for in the Tanakh it is written, "ADONAI says, 'Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.'" 20 On the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by doing this, you will heap fiery coals [of shame] on his head." 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Continuing with the reading from Matthew

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15:1-20
1 Then some P'rushim and Torah-teachers from Yerushalayim came to Yeshua and asked him, 2 "Why is it that your talmidim break the Tradition of the Elders? They don't do n'tilat-yadayim before they eat!" 3 He answered, "Indeed, why do you break the command of God by your tradition? 4 For God said, `Honor your father and mother,' and `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 5 But you say, `If anyone says to his father or mother, "I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you," 6 then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.' Thus by your tradition you make null and void the word of God! 7 You hypocrites! Yesha`yahu was right when he prophesied about you, 8 `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. 9 Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.'"

10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand this! 11 What makes a person unclean is not what goes into his mouth; rather, what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean!" 12 The talmidim came to him and said, "Do you know that the P'rushim were offended by what you said?" 13 He replied, "Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Let them be. They are blind guides. When a blind man guides another blind man, both will fall in a pit." 15 Kefa said to him, "Explain the parable to us." 16 So he said, "Don't you under stand even now? 17 Don't you see that anything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and passes out into the latrine? 18 But what comes out of your mouth is actually coming from your heart, and that is what makes a person unclean. 19 For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders. . . . 20 These are what really make a person unclean, but eating without doing n'tilat-yadayim does not make a person unclean."

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1 The P'rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua 2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n'tilat-yadayim. 3 (For the P'rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. 4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.) 5 The P'rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, "Why don't your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?" 6 Yeshua answered them, "Yesha`yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites -- as it is written, `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. 7 Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.' 8 "You depart from God's command and hold onto human tradition. Indeed," 9 he said to them, "you have made a fine art of departing from God's command in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moshe said, `Honor your father and your mother,' and `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 11 But you say, `If someone says to his father or mother, "I have promised as a korban" ' " (that is, as a gift to God) " ` "what I might have used to help you," ' 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus, with your tradition which you had handed down to you, you nullify the Word of God! And you do other things like this." 14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! 15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!" 16 Some manuscripts include verse 16: "Anyone who has ears that can hear, let him hear!" 17 When he had left the people and entered the house, his talmidim asked him about the parable. 18 He replied to them, "So you too are without understanding? Don't you see that nothing going into a person from outside can make him unclean? 19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes out into the latrine." (Thus he declared all foods ritually clean.) 20 "It is what comes out of a person," he went on, "that makes him unclean. 21 For from within, out of a person's heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness... 23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean."

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1 Sha'ul looked straight at them and said, "Brothers, I have been discharging my obligations to God with a perfectly clear conscience, right up until today." 2 But the cohen hagadol, Hananyah, ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Sha'ul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Will you sit there judging me according to the Torah, yet in violation of the Torah order me to be struck?" 4 The men nearby said, "This is the cohen hagadol of God that you're insulting!" 5 Sha'ul said, "I didn't know, brothers, that he was the cohen hagadol; for it says in the Torah, 'You are not to speak disparagingly of a ruler of your people.'"

6 But knowing that one part of the Sanhedrin consisted of Tz'dukim and the other of P'rushim, Sha'ul shouted, "Brothers, I myself am a Parush and the son of P'rushim; and it is concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am being tried!" 7 When he said this, an argument arose between the P'rushim and the Tz'dukim, and the crowd was divided. 8 For the Tz'dukim deny the resurrection and the existence of angels and spirits; whereas the P'rushim acknowledge both. 9 So there was a great uproar, with some of the Torah-teachers who were on the side of the P'rushim standing up and joining in - "We don't find anything wrong with this man; and if a spirit or an angel spoke to him, what of it?" 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander, fearing that Sha'ul would be torn apart by them, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force and bring him back into the barracks. 11 The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage! For just as you have borne a faithful witness to me in Yerushalayim, so now you must bear witness in Rome."

How is it that Shaul did not know it was the Cohen HaGadol? Did they not dress differently than the other Leviim? He had intimate knowledge of the priesthood and direct contact with them before his ' conversion', so how is it that he didn't know?

The mitzvah that Paul broke is found in chapter 22

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28 "You are not to curse G-d, and you are not to curse a leader of your people.

9:15-22

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15 It is because of this death that he is mediator of a new covenant [or will] Because a death has occurred which sets people free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a will, there must necessarily be produced evidence of its maker's death, 17 since a will goes into effect only upon death; it never has force while its maker is still alive. 18 This is why the first covenant too was inaugurated with blood. 19 After Moshe had proclaimed every command of the Torah to all the people, he took the blood of the calves with some water and used scarlet wool and hyssop to sprinkle both the scroll itself and all the people; 20 and he said, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has ordained for you. 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Do you think that the covenant at the mountain was a will or a ketubah?
Which covenant is he speaking of?
And if the death he is speaking of is Yeshua's then how do we take into account that he is alive?


10:28-39

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28 Someone who disregards the Torah of Moshe is put to death without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses. 29 Think how much worse will be the punishment deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God; who has treated as something common the blood of the covenant which made him holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God's grace! 30 For the One we know is the One who said, "Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay," and then said, "ADONAI will judge his people." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God! 32 But remember the earlier days, when, after you had received the light, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. 33 Sometimes you were publicly disgraced and persecuted, while at other times you stood loyally by those who were treated this way. 34 For you shared the sufferings of those who had been put in prison. Also when your possessions were seized, you accepted it gladly; since you knew that what you possessed was better and would last forever. 35 So don't throw away that courage of yours, which carries with it such a great reward. 36 For you need to hold out; so that, by having done what God wills, you may receive what he has promised. 37 For "There is so, so little time! The One coming will indeed come, he will not delay. 38 But the person who is righteous will live his life by trusting, and if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39 However, we are not the kind who shrink back and are destroyed; on the contrary, we keep trusting and thus preserve our lives!

The above highlighted, " I will not be pleased with him" Does this make this writing a direct word from G-d do you think?