Parables are also interesting from the Hebraic perspective. Mosley�s book is a great read.
30-30 Man
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Secondary Burial Matthew 8: 21-22
This concept is taken from Matthew 8:21-22, where a disciple asks Jesus to let him first go bury his father before continuing his ministry. The seemingly piecing rebuke of Jesus was not aimed at this disciple�s care for his father, but toward a Jewish tradition concerning burial which violated the scripture.
This tradition required the body of the deceased to be placed in the ground on the day of his death ( Deuteronomy 21: 22-23 ), John 19 : 31 and Acts 5: 6-10. This was the "first burial." The family then observed a seven-day period of mourning called shivah, during which they were not even permitted to leave the house. After the body was placed in the burial chamber, it was left to decompose. The Jerusalem Talmud says, " When the flesh had wasted away, the bones were collected and placed in small chests called ossuaries. After the flesh had gone from the bones, and the bones were placed in the ossuaries, the son stopped mourning."
This transfer of the bones to an ossuary was known as the "secondary burial." It was done by the oldest son, who took the bones either to the holy city of Jerusalem or a family burial cave, where they were placed near the bones of their ancestors. This practice had become popular during the first century, but had an unscriptural concept behind it of which Jesus apparently did not approve.
Jesus� disapproval was probably because of a corollary belief which held that decomposition of the flesh between the first and second burials atoned for the sins of the dead person. At the secondary burial, the son could rejoice as the bones of his father were laid with his ancestors, because only after the sinful flesh was off the bones were the sins atoned for.
Jesus was not hindering the son in his fulfillment of the fifth commandment, which required him to show his father due honor. But He was opposed to the secondary burial, which promoted the unscriptural idea that something other then the Messiah could deliver a person from sin. In all probability, the first burial of this disciple�s father had taken place a year earlier; otherwise he would have been in mourning and not with Jesus.
Some have suggested that this incident occurred just prior to the Feast of Tabernacles since Jesus and His followers were heading for Jerusalem. Perhaps the disciple thought that this would be a convenient time to transport his fathers� ossuary to the holy city.
This was taken from the book " Yeshua A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church."
By Dr. Ron Mosely - Messianic Christian Teacher
Rich
Last edited by 3030Man; 06/07/05.
