> Charles et.al: Thanks for sharing this. I think that the parable is
helpful if we remember that the individual stalks ("...it may chance of
wheat or of some other grain...") are the central issue. I think that we
can do a bit of creative work and see individual souls that we interact
with as priests as the stalks (and we do not always know the whole story
of their lives and experiences). We can indeed make it clear our views
of jurisdictions ("...having a form of godliness but denying the power
thereof...")are different and that we are at least
pragmatically/situationally accepting the individuals as individuals who
have burdens that at least at the moment only we can help them bear (The
Good Samaritan idea). I have good relations with individual
Episcopalians here and in other lands while making it very clear that
while they individually are one thing the jurisdiction that they find
themselves in(often thru no fault of their own)is something else again.
It seems to work well enough. The Pentateuchal material is marginal
because of course it refers to a time long past and has to do with
temporalities rather than spiritualities. It is this corpus of 'Mosaic
law' that was abolished Easter Day 33AD. Please pray for Margaret C.
(RIP) and for Basil and Margaret J.(seriously ill). Rogationtide
blessings. GDVW+
>
> MATTHEW 13:24 PARABLE OF THE MIXED FIELD
>
> Brothers+
>
> When approaching Gospel studies I have found it helpful to ask this
> question as I begin reading a saying or an action of Jesus: “Why did
> the Gospel writer save this and include it in his narrative?” To me it
> is important not only to understand the use of words as Jesus and his
> hearers understood them, but also the know use the first Christians made
> of those words. I think that discipline helps discern what is a
> legitimate application of the words of Jesus in our time.
>
> Recently I have made use of Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom. Jesus
> explains the meaning of the Mixed Field parable, but it is the
> application of it to our times that remains a question to me: “What
> should our relationship be with avowed Christians with whom we
> disagree?” Asking myself the question “Why was this parable saved?”
> My answer comes out “It was saved by the Hebrew Christians fleeing
> Jerusalem (Matthew written in Syria? After the fall of Jerusalem?)
> because they had to answer the question of whether they should include
> in their synagogues the converts from Samaria and the Gentiles. This was
> a particularly hard lesson for the Jewish Christians to learn, as
> witness the confrontation of Paul and Peter at the Jerusalem council.
> Why was it a hard lesson for the Jews to learn? The teaching in the
> Torah regarding the mixing of crops in a field may provide a clue. The
> early Hebrew Christians were observant Jews.
>
> I came across the following a few months ago and have been musing about
> it in relation to the Mixed Field parable since then. The article below
> is from Torah.org a Jewish website.
>
> Paul's teaching that the Gentiles are “grafted in” to Israel is
> interesting also in regard to the following notes.
>
> Comments?
>
> Cheers!
>
> Charles+
>
>
> Halacha Overview - Crops
> Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 23:51:13 -0400
>
> Note: It should be stressed that the statements in a summary must not be
> interpreted as halachic rulings no matter how definitively they are
> worded. When such rulings are needed a qualified rabbi must be
> consulted.
>
> G. Crops - Zeraim
>
> "In the seventh book I will include commandments that apply to crops,
> such as the sabbatical year and Jubilee, tithes and priestly offerings,
> and other commandments that are included with them involving similar
> matters. And I have called this book the Book of Crops."
>
> 34. Mixtures - Kilayim
>
> a) Mixtures of Plants
>
> It is forbidden to plant two types of crops (that are used for human
> food) together or to graft one type of plant on another, as it says "You
> shall not plant your field with a mixture". 1. The prohibition of
> planting applies only in the land of Israel. Different types of crops
> must be separated far enough that they either appear separate or do not
> draw nourishment from one another.
>
> a) It is forbidden to plant any crop (other than a tree) near a vine,
> and there is a special prohibition against planting a mixture of two
> crops near a vine, as it says "You shall not plant your vineyard with a
> mixture"
>
> 2. this latter prohibition applies rabbinically even outside the land of
> Israel. If one does so it is forbidden to derive benefit from them, as
> it says "Lest the increase of the seed that you have planted and the
> crop of the vineyard become holy".
>
> b) Mixtures of Animals
>
> It is forbidden to cross-breed two types of animals, as it says "You
> shall not breed your animal as a mixture". 1 It is forbidden to do work
> with two types of animals together, as it says "You shall not plow with
> an ox and an ass together"
>
> 3; but unless they are land animals, one of them permissible to eat and
> the other forbidden, this prohibition is only rabbinical. Breeding or
> working with a sacred animal that has become unfit is also forbidden
> since it is like a mixture of sacred and profane.
>
> c) Mixtures in Clothing
>
> It is forbidden to wear a mixture of wool and linen, as it says "You
> shall not wear a mixture of wool and linen together",
>
> 4. and it says "And a garment made of a mixture shall not go upon you".
>
> Sources:
>
> 1. Lev. 19:19 a. 1:1,4-5; 4:16
> 2. Deut. 22:9 b. 5:1,3-6,7; 8:13-14
> 3. Deut. 22:10 c. 9:1,7-8,10-11
> 4. Deut. 22:11 d. 10:1
>
> ------------------------------------------------------Halacha-Overview,
> Copyright © 2003 by Rabbi Dr. Azriel Rosenfeld and Torah.org. The author
> is Director of the Center for Automation Research at the University of
> Maryland in College Park.
>
> Join the Jewish Learning Revolution! Torah.org: The Judaism Site brings
> this and a host of other classes to you every week. Visit
> http://torah.org or email learn@... to get your own free copy of
> this mailing.
>
> Project Genesis - Torah.
> <SNIP>
> Permission is granted to redistribute, but please give proper
> attribution and copyright to the author and Torah.org. Both the author
> and Torah.org
>
>
>
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