The Gospels. The Good News, so it’s said. The Good Way would be so much more appropriate. The Good Way is what the Gospel is, when looked at in the full context of the Scriptures.
I was doing some “hunting” on the internet (2002), and, out of curiosity, I typed in a search for “The Way”. Here’s what “came up”.
The Way of Islam, The Way of Kabbala, The Way to Buddha, The Way International, The Way of the Samurai, The Way of Tai Chi, The Way of Jamiroquai (Dancing Buffalo), The Way of Taoism, The “Bi” Way…So enough of that! So, I added “of Jesus Christ” to “The Way”, and many christian sites came up, and I started checking them for teaching about The Way. Many of them had “way” in their names, but I saw none of Yeshua’s teachings about the Way. Yes, I saw that they said that Jesus Christ is the Way, but then they would go into “standard” doctrinal statements about their church or group, and none of them described The Way as shown throughout the Scriptures! So why did Yeshua consider it as important to put such an emphasis on His being The Way? He was, as we know, showing that He was the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. That’s why I went looking there. What I found is, in large part, what is covered in the rest of this book. Now, though, with those things in mind, I’m going to go through His life, death, resurrection, and ecclesia to see how the Law and the Prophets were applied to His being The Way, and what He meant when He said it.
Matthew. The “gospel to the Jews”, or so I’ve heard it said. But we know that it wasn’t just for the Jews, but first to them, then as a light to the gentiles, or nations. The bushel basket was being removed to expose the light that had been hidden.
The first chronological appearance of The Way in the gospels is in Luke 1:79. Zacharias (John the Baptist’s father) has been mute for some time, then, on the eighth day after John’s birth, his “nameday”, Zacharias writes down “his name is John”, and suddenly he is filled with the Holy Spirit and begins to prophesy. His “comments” sound like something straight out of the Psalms or the Prophets. Toward the “end”, he declares, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways…” and, to wrap things up, he says, “To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Psalm 25) To guide our feet? Why? Because we’re blind! But also note verse 77: “To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins.” Keep that in mind!
The next mention of The Way in the gospels is, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in reference to the foretold ministry of John the Baptist. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare The Way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” There’s a lot of reference information in those two little lines, which were prophesied in Isaiah 40:3. The voice is crying in the wilderness (the world of darkness, and our minds, hearts and souls) to prepare for His coming, to make a straight Way for Him. It’s notable that the first points made about His coming concern the way. How do we prepare? “Repent.”
Repent is one of those words which has, through the years, altered in meaning. Some think that it means to be aware of our sins and to be sorry for them. Some believe it means to do an about-face, and in a way it does. A more accurate interpretation would be to die completely to who you are (reckon the old man dead), forsake all of our previous life and leave everything behind in fear of the Wrath of God. This is consistent with the teachings of Yeshua and the true meaning of the baptism that accompanies repentance. You’ll see as we go along that this is the only way that the process of remission of sins can be accomplished. We must die to our old life, discard the old wineskin, and acquire a new wineskin. And only after the remission can we be filled with the new wine. The baptism of water (born of water) is symbolic of the decision of commitment to die to our “former man”. The water is symbolic of the Living water. It all works together with the Word of God (“knowledge of…”) and the Blood of The Lamb (“…His covenant”) to produce “… salvation.” It’s all part of “His ways”. When we go under the water and come out again, it is to show that we agree that who we were has been buried. “Reckon the old man dead,” Paul wrote. So why do we today want to hang onto what we were before and just “add Yeshua to it?” You can’t patch an old garment with a new patch….
Another interesting reference to the way is made in the parable of the sower (Mark 4:4). Seed that lands “by the way-side” is devoured by the “birds” (or Satan, vs. 15). I’d like to spend much more time on this parable, and perhaps I’ll address it, the Lord willing, at another time. But keep this in mind: Where does the Word usually “get sown”? In our churches? Please note the presence of Satan and his “birds of the air”, as well as the “stony ground” and the “thorns”. You can bet he’s there, wherever the Word goes out, ripping off the seeds before they even reach the ears, and hardening those hearts, and enticing those who hear with cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the pride of life, and the desire for other things. Remember the presence of the demons in the synagogues! No, that’s not an accusation. It’s a warning call that Our Lord gave to us!
OK, now for one of the “biggies”, Matthew 7:12-27. One could easily spend a “month of Sundays”, entire Sundays, teaching and explaining the significance of this ½ chapter. It’s packed with the way, right and wrong, as well as with many warnings for not following the “good and right” way. But before I begin, I will digress for a moment (Oh no, here he goes again!) Yes, I’m afraid I’m going to have to preach.
There is a primary element of the way missing from our populace today, and what’s alarming is that it’s missing from those who claim to believe as well. The Word says that we can’t even begin to know God without having it. All the great men of God in the Old Testament had it. And if they didn’t have it to begin with, God made sure they did before He sent them out to do His work. Every “son” of His knows He must have it, or he’s not his Father’s son. It is not Faith (though we can’t please Him without it). It is not Love (though if we don’t have it, we’re as sounding brass…). It is not Works (though prepared works of righteousness go with the walk).
It is Fear.
Most of the believers today has been sold an eternally fatal lie. The “fear is the opposite of Love” verse has been taken way out of context. As a result, we see today an ecclesia rampant with licentiousness, permissiveness, and as a result, apostasy (2Peter2). Much of this comes from a form of the doctrine called Eternal Security. I call it an “insufficient fire insurance policy”.
Much of today’s ecclesia has taken it upon themselves to reverse a process called discipling. But the Word says to “lay hands suddenly on no man”. That’s how they used to share the Holy Spirit – laying on of hands. I myself have been the victim of unbiblical discipling. The wounds are not pleasant, but they’ve healed, and I’ve not grown from the experience, but I have learned better how to die.
Today, all it takes is an “altar call” to start the process of discipling. If one prays the “sinners prayer”, they are then “assured” (by the person lying to them) that they have their “salvation”, and then verses like “nothing will snatch them out of My hand” are read to them to further convince them. Thus starts the (necessary?) process of doubts and backsliding and unrepentant sin that is referred to as “growing in your christian faith”. There is no way that this is the way of peace with God! No, absolutely, no way!!!
In order to convince them that they need to pray the sinner’s prayer, an entire array of emotional mantras are produced to inflict pain in order to get the desired (by the pastor or leader) response. This makes the person the emotional wreck they need to be in order to be pliable. That, along with some nice, soft worship music at altar-call time, and the prayer team is adequately equipped to make the “repentant sinner” “more prepared for Gehenna” than they themselves are. I know I’m being hard, here! This is not a game! There are souls being led to perdition left and right, and in the name of Jesus! And THIS – IS – NOT – HIS – WAY – !!!
I’m angry! They are told, repeatedly, that “Jesus loves you” and “wants to come into your heart” and that you can “come as you are”. Yes, Yeshua loves us and layed down His life for us, and He wants us to Fear God. And He doesn’t want to come into our filthy unrepentant hearts! He wants us to be willing for Him to change them. And He never said, “come as you are”. He said, “Forsake all.” This deception is huge! And if you’re reading this, and angry with me, that’s just fine, only prove this isn’t so, or else repent and start on the “good, straight, narrow, and right” Way. Otherwise, I have no desire to listen to you, and you may as well stop reading, because you’ve already received your reward. Yes, difficult stuff.
Now, for the (few) rest of you who didn’t just throw this work in the trash, I’ll continue. To you, I’ll apologize. To those we’ve lost at this point, I won’t, because their pride has consumed them, and an apology wouldn’t help them. I am not (necessarily) angry with men, except that in playing around with the eternal lives of others, they haven’t pursued the love of the truth, and in so doing have led many others into apostasy. They themselves have been deceived, led away of their own lusts, because neither did they learn that they had to die to themselves first. My true anger is with the deception, the powers and principalities that have so cleverly executed their plan. I can’t wait to take it out on them. For now, I’ll return to my only weapon: The Word of the Truth.
“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” The Way came to fulfill the Law. And Paul wrote, “According to this Way, which they (the jews, the religious establishment) call heresy, so do I worship, as written in the Law and the Prophets.”
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” Do you remember that list of Ways I mentioned above? Not all of them are “outside” the christian circles. “Because narrow is the gate and difficult (confined) is the way which leads to life, and there are few that find it.” So, first He said to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And immediately He explains that this is the way. Have you ever been trapped in “a lie (a bad circumstance)”, and afterwards you’ve said, “If only someone had told me!” Or, have you ever been in serious financial straights, and would have welcomed someone walking up to you and handing you $10,000? Wouldn’t you have been grateful? Unfortunately, many of us won’t share our problems with our “brothers and sisters” because we’re taught while growing up (through both word and example) that it just isn’t “proper” to share your “dirty laundry” with others. Actually, you were taught wrong, and this contributes to pride. Actually, it’s not good to share other peoples’ dirty laundry with others, without the other person’s permission. But we do the opposite. We share other peoples’ dirty laundry with others without the person’s permission, but we don’t share our own. This is sin. And so is pride. The question is, do we fear God because of it and stop (die to our flesh), or do we pray that we’re sorry, and thank Him for His grace? Which response does God’s Word say He will honor?
It’s interesting (and quite discouraging) to see, based on Matthew 7:15-16, what today’s church considers as being fruit. If I were to visit a congregation, and I saw people coming in and, having sold all their possessions, laying the money down at the elders’ feet for distribution to the rest of the congregation, and no one considering anything their own, and people being healed and prophesying, and the same people meeting and praying every day for God’s presence, and no one of them lacking anything, and eating together daily, then I’d say, “There’s fruit!” And if I saw the fear of God present, and everyone adhering to the Word as Yeshua and the Prophets and the Apostles taught it, I’d say, “This is it!” I’ve yet to see it.
However, in today’s world of “the sinners prayer”, we see none of that. What we see is numbers, as well as the occasional “signs and wonders”. That’s all. Now, you tell me, is that good fruit or bad fruit? And remember the “few” and the “many” before you answer. Now, remember what happens to those “bad trees”? “A Book could be written”.
Next, in John 8:21, the NKJV translators miss it again. Jesus says, “I go My way, and you shall seek Me, and you shall die in your sins: where I go, you cannot come.” Whoa! Who’s He talking to? Why, the Pharisees, of course. The guys who didn’t want to do it His way. They were the “religious leaders” of the day who would lose everything they had worked for (as they saw it) if they went along with His way. Later, He’ll tell His Apostles that they “know the way”, and they had been following Him in His footsteps, His paths. (Psalm 23:3, Psalm 25)
In Mark 9:33-35, when the apostles were by the way (not in the way), Yeshua asks them what they had been disputing about. They didn’t want to tell Him (though He knew), because they had been going through the process of assigning themselves status in His coming Kingdom. They definitely weren’t in the way, but had stepped out (by) of the way in their pride and foolishness. Jesus corrects them by telling them to be servant of all if they desire to be “first”.
When we get to Luke 9:57-62, we see that they (Yeshua and His followers) are going in the way when a man approaches Yeshua and says, “Lord, I will follow you wherever You go.” Now, remember that they’re going in the way and listen to Yeshua’s interesting, but pointed, response: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has no where to lay His head.” Yeshua is here making a point that is “glossed over” in many sermons today. It is a subject He repeats in several places and in many forms. He is saying to the man, “Are you sure about this? Count the cost!” Yeshua had forsaken all to portray His Father’s will. He had left His family, and He had no “house” of His own to return to each night for His comfort. To follow Him would not be easy. It would be a good idea as well to look up the other places that Yeshua mentions the “birds of the air”, and apply what you see to this passage. Yeshua says nothing lightly or by accident.
Next, in the same passage, we see two fellows who are making what would seem today to be quite reasonable requests, that they be excused momentarily to “wrap up” some personal matters before joining Him. Yeshua’s answer? “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” In another place, He says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Don’t look back at the world we left in wanton desire.
Yeshua teaches about this subject in a very specific manner in Luke 14:12-35. He speaks of excuses, and of counting the cost, and of forsaking all, in one subjective sermon. Right after making it clear that He was inviting them, the “poor”, the “maimed”, and the “blind” to His feast, they all with one accord begin to make excuses, and again, in today’s culture they would seem “reasonable”. One “follower” says (allegorical paraphrase): “Hey, Lord, I just made a big investment in a piece of real estate. Surely You can see that I have to go and be a good steward and check on it!” Another says (allegorical paraphrase), “I just bought a fleet of vans for my business, and I have to go and check them to be sure I got what I paid for. Surely doing anything else would be irresponsible of me!” The third says (allegorical paraphrase), “My wife is more important to me than You are, ‘cause we’re newlyweds, y’know?” Well, in this “parable”, the Master isn’t impressed. So He crosses the excuse-makers off His invitation list, and sends out His servants to look for others whose own lives aren’t more important than pleasing Him. Yeshua follows this with explaining in several different ways that if we don’t “count the cost”, and if we don’t consider eternal life and escape from perdition more important than anything and everything in our personal lives, don’t bother coming at all. “Whoever of you does not forsake (leave behind you and don’t look back) ALL that he has cannot be My disciple (follower).” Pretty hard stuff, but He said it; I’m just repeating His Words. (Luke 8:21, Matt. 5:16, 6:21, 10:33, Mark 4:18-19, John 3:19-21, John 8:31-32, 8:51, 9:41, Luke 6:40, Matt. 7:26-27, Matt. 18:3-4, Mark 8:34-38, Luke 6:34, Luke 6:46…)
In John 10:1, He gives one of His many warnings about not trying to find “some other way” to the Kingdom. He says, “Truly, truly (in other words, listen very closely, here!), I say to you, he that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” Pardon me for saying so, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen a sheepfold where those in the “flock” had forsaken “all”. Am I missing something? For a long time, I knew I was missing “something”, so I asked God, promising Him all, and He showed me, in His Word, what I’m writing down here. None of this is from me, but through me, to the glory of God and His Living Word. I have little left of my self, my desires, my dreams, my wants, or my possessions; I will make my boast in the Lord. To me, they have already burned.
In Matthew 10:5-15, in His instructions to the apostles, He gives His instruction to the preacher of His Word as well. He says, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles…” The purpose is twofold. We know, I think, that the Gospel message was to be preached first to the Jews, and after that, in fulfillment of prophetic Scripture, to the “nations”, or Gentiles. But the second purpose is at least as important. In the warnings of Moses and Joshua, we see that Israel was warned not to follow the way of the Gentiles. They did not know God or His ways. But Israel eventually did follow the ways of the Gentiles, to their sorrow. Once we’re in the way, we’re not to behave as the “gentiles”, or the worldly unbelievers, do. Yeshua adds some warnings to those who do not treat His followers well or who don’t heed their message in verses 13-15. I’ve been wiping my feet a lot, and I experience nothing but sorrow at having to do so.
Mark 10:21-31 holds some sad lessons for us today. This contains one of the most misused Scriptures in the entire Word of God. It’s the story of a “rich young ruler”, who Yeshua looked upon and loved for his obedience to the commandments all his life, who asked Yeshua what more he needed to do to enter the kingdom. Yeshua replies, “(Only) one thing you lack; go your way, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” Yeshua wanted this man to follow him, and he lacked only one thing to gain life in the Kingdom. But instead of doing it, he went away grieved and sad.
The misconception of these verses is encouraged from our pulpits and in our self-help books, but not in the Word of God. We’re all, rich or poor, to give everything, to forsake everything in this world, to follow Him and gain our true treasure. The price is the same for all. Only the quantity is relative. The “poor widow”, after all, gave more than most, because she gave all she had. But we’re taught today that this lesson only applied to that particular young man, that Yeshua knew his heart and knew that his possessions owned him, and that is why He told him what He did. That is simply not true. Yeshua preached the same message, consistently, to everybody. Yet, we contrive “explanations” to excuse ourselves from doing what Yeshua, repeatedly, told us to do. The apostles forsook everything to follow Him, and they weren’t (necessarily) rich. The Acts ecclesia, The Way, forsook everything, and all of them weren’t (necessarily) rich. Rich is relative. What comforts us? What do we depend on? What is binding us to the fate of this world? What are our “parachute strings”? If you won’t give it up for God, and not just figuratively, it’s a treasure.
“What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Mark 10:46-52 holds some remarkable lessons. A blind man sat by the side of the high-way begging. When he heard that Yeshua of Nazareth (look at Matthew 2:23) was coming, he started crying out, “Yeshua, You Son of David, have mercy on me!” (he knew the scriptures!) and he wouldn’t relent. Then he, casting away his garment (all he had, and his worldly covering), rose and came to Yeshua. After this, Yeshua asked him what he wanted Him to do for him. Yeshua knew that he was blind, so why did He ask? The blind man answered, “Lord, that I might receive my sight.” And Yeshua said to him, “Go your way, your faith has made you whole.” “And immediately he received his sight, and followed Yeshua in the way.” These few verses are absolutely packed with the Word of God, for those who know the Scriptures and are digging for their salvation, the Messiah, in them! Let’s take a look:
- The blind man was sitting by the side of the high-way, begging. Use your references to look up “highway or high-way” in the Scriptures, and read the Also, he was very poor; he was begging.
- He heard that it was Yeshua of Nazareth and cried out, “You Son of David, have mercy on me!” Look at Matthew 2:23 and follow the references. This man knew the scriptures, and knew who Yeshua was.
- “Casting away his garment”. Now, in today’s world, and especially in this culture, that may not seem like such a big deal. But this was a blind beggar. And in his culture, especially for the poor and blind, garments weren’t easy to come by. They didn’t have Walmarts, or even Goodwill stores. He cast away all he had because he knew who Yeshua was.
- Yeshua, knowing the man to be blind, asked him what he wanted, indicating that whatever it was, He would do it for him. The blind man asked for his Look at everything the Scriptures have to say about “sight to the blind”, and who the real blind are.
- Yeshua restores him, and gives him the option of just walking away and pursuing his life. “Go thy (your) way: Your faith has made you whole.” Look at the other places in the gospels where Yeshua says, “Your faith has made you whole”. In almost every case, if not all, it’s because the person knew the scriptures about Him and believed the Word of God and acted on it. A good example is the woman with an “issue of blood” who pushed through the throng to “touch His fringe”. See Malachi 4:2. The Hebrew for “wings” is the same word as for the “fringe” of a rabbi’s robe.
- As soon as the blind man received his sight, he followed Jesus in the way.
One must remember that everything Yeshua said or did fulfilled something in the Scriptures written about Him. Those who knew God’s Word, believed it, and obeyed it, were said of Yeshua to have faith. In today’s world, it seems that “believing is enough,” without the knowing and the obedience.
Always remember, when one dilutes the Word of God, he pollutes the Word of God. “Beware of the leaven…”
In Matthew 11:10, when Yeshua is speaking to the multitudes about John the Baptist, and who he was, and his purpose in this life, He points at Himself and the fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi 3:1. “Behold, I send My messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before You.” He goes on to express, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” These that “have an ear” are otherwise in the Word referred to as “the called” (“No one can come to Me unless it is granted to him by My Father…”).
When we get to Mark 12:14, we see some of the “hard-hearted” Pharisees and Herodians trying to trap Yeshua in His Words. It’s interesting that they know that what Yeshua is teaching is “the way of God in truth”, but they still try to trap Him. They know that the way is God’s truth! And still they want another way, their way. (II Thess. 2:7-10)
In Matthew 21:19, Yeshua finds a fig tree in the way that is not producing fruit as it should. Remember the “every tree that does not produce fruit is cut down and cast into the fire”? In fact, in the Law, God commands Israel that they may cut down any tree that does not produce fruit, but to leave the ones that do! Well, this particular tree fared no better. It was in the way, but was not producing fruit (“in keeping with repentance?”). (Acts 26:20, Luke 3:8)
Now, after this, in Matthew 21:32, Yeshua proclaims that, “John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not;” Now, let’s see; John was the guy dressed like a caveman standing outside the “church” and yelling warnings at it, right? He didn’t look good, he didn’t dress good, and I would guess he probably didn’t smell very good. He lived on bugs sweetened with wild honey. He was in the wilderness, but he was shouting, “Come on now, start all over again. Here’s step #1.” (Jeremiah 6:16) But he was in the way of righteousness. And the rip-off artists and the whores believed him, but the religious leaders wouldn’t.
In Luke 15:20, while telling the parable we know as “The Prodigal Son”, we see the mercy and compassion of God. The son, after squandering what his Father had given him, would be grateful for even some pig slop to eat. Than he remembers his Father, and knows that even his Father’s servants are provided for. So he picks up, turns away from the life he had been living, and heads for his Father’s house. His Father has been anxiously waiting for any sign that he was coming. While he was on the way, his Father sees him and goes running to him. He then throws a huge banquet in His son’s honor. O, that we would turn from our “mess of pottage” and receive our intended welcome!
When we get to Luke 19:36, we see Yeshua in the way to fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-11. I suggest that those of you who don’t believe or teach salvation by (two-sided) Covenant take a look at these prophetic verses. After this, take a look at the complete story in Luke 24:13-35.
In John chapter 14, we see the “capstone” of all of Yeshua’s teachings about Himself. He begins a four-chapter speech by instructing the apostles, vs. 4, “Where I go you know, and the way you know.” Confused, Thomas remarks, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going; and how can we know the way?” Jesus explains that they’ve seen the prophesied way all along while they’ve been following Him. “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.” Not through Me, or by asking Me, but by Me. Look back at His Words in Luke 24:25: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken;…” He goes on to explain the many things that He had been doing, and why. And He says that while they don’t fully understand yet, He is “leaving” so that the Teacher and Comforter can be sent to them (“But now I go My way to Him that sent me;”). Yeshua had fulfilled most of the prophecies concerning Himself coming in the flesh, and He, through His Ecclesia, was on the way to completing them (John 18:8).