Now Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Darkness & Light | Part 6

Diving right into this teaching, Rabbi Steve Berkson starts us in Matthew 15:1, where we see the Scribes and Pharisees confronting Yeshua about how his disciples did not observe one of the “traditions of the elders” – the ceremonial washing of hands before eating food.

• For what purpose did the religious authority of the First Century continually confront Yeshua?
• What did the Pharisees do that Yeshua took issue with?
• Are “traditions” bad and not to be observed at all?
• What could Yeshua have done that would have completely destroyed his ministry?
• What does the phrase, “blind leading the blind” mean?
• What does the true ‘discipleship model’ look like?

Rabbi Berkson then takes us to the passage in Isaiah 29:13-24 that Yeshua directly quoted when confronting the Scribes and Pharisees about elevating man-made traditions to the level of the Torah, eclipsing actual Torah. In this passage, Rabbi Berkson expands on the issue of Light vs. Dark being spoken of by the prophet. He also shares a conversation he had with an atheist in which Rabbi Steve proposed a “what-if” all that we believe turns out to not be true.

Then in Luke 1:67-79, Rabbi Berkson shows us another aspect of Light in the purpose of John, a prophet and forerunner of Messiah Yeshua. His purpose was to also be a light to the people of that time who were living in darkness, shining on the coming of the Messiah, our hope of redemption. In Luke 4:17-21, we see Yeshua again quoting the prophet Isaiah in chapter 61, verses 1-2. Rabbi Berkson takes us to the passage in Isaiah and brings up an interesting point concerning the differences in translations of the Bible.

• What translation was Yeshua reading from when he read Isaiah 61:1-2?

Finally, Rabbi Berkson takes us into Isaiah 42:1-7, 16 to give more context to Isaiah 61:1-2 as that passage describes a role of the Messiah. Once again, Rabbi Steve Berkson delves deeper into scripture to uncover even more dimensions of Darkness and Light.