Jesus' Teaching: Kal Ve'Chomer
We briefly established in our prior article that Jesus' teaching
used some common Jewish technique of the Jewish matrix that He operated within.
In this article, we'll take a closer look at the kal ve'chomer, literally, from light to heavy.
Five Fantastic Instances...
I picked three instances of kal ve'chomer in Jesus' teaching simply by plugging "how much more" as a search phrase, which is the usual tip-off for the use of this way of teaching...
Good Daddies Give Good Things
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7.11)
In this instance, it is very easy to see the logic. If less than perfect dads like we all have know how to give good things to our kids and want the best for them, then it stands to reason that a God who is perfect in all His ways knows even better how to do this.
The primary understanding of God is as a Father. And a perfect one, something we know little about so we may have to re-learn it. What do you need to re-entrust to your perfect dad?
Religious Legalism Blown Away...
"Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." (Matthew 12.11-12)
Jesus did not do away with the Law of God; He in fact made it more applicable than ever in His teaching. That may surprise some of you.
But notice here that He upholds one of the key interpretive principles of understanding the Torah: that saving life or bringing healing would take precedence over the command not to work.
In this case, if you would help a sheep out of a ditch, how much more would you heal a man with a withered hand. (Which is exactly what He did in this case.)
Just about all of us have witnessed someone who is "doctrinally correct" being downright mean in all their correctness. This is not the Jesus way of teaching.
What practice are you holding onto that breaks a larger principle of God's Word?
Why Worry?
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?" (Luke 12.24-25)
Once again, it is easy to see the logic with this method of Jesus' teaching: If God cares for those are to be bought for a dime-a-dozen, how much more does He he care for you, carrier of His image?
So then, what are you worrying about that needs to be entrusted to the Father?
Take this as your cue to cast it upon His care.
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