Jesus, the Tzadik and Matthew 16

I realize that this is an especially volatile passage of scripture, particularly between Catholics and Protestants. However, I am really only ever concerned with one church. His. So, it is merely my wish to point out here the overriding Jewish theme in what Jesus says and what impact it may have really had on His disciples and what it may mean for us as well.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-19)

For the moment, only the last part of this really concerns us, but it is necessary to see it in context. Let me start from another angle.

A Tzadik is a Jewish "holy one," a title given to one whose good outweighs the evil in their life. The status, though not necessarily related to gifts pertaining to the working of miracles can often mean so. It is used in the Talmud to describe those who are extraordinarily pious and holy. Sounds like a good description of Jesus to me.
Their prayers are thought to carry quite a lot of weight, in fact the Talmud states, "A tzadik decrees and the Holy One (blessed be He) fulfills." This alone has a lot of power in it, especially in the light of Christ's miracles and prayers. It's also got a good punch to it in context with Matthew 16, "...whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Rabban Gamliel (3rd Century AD), son of the famous Rabbi Judah haNasi, said, "Make His Will your own will, that He make your will as His Will."
It appears that Y'eshua's message here has a particular impact on His disciples considering the culture and understanding of The Word of God. This seems to agree with J.B. Phillips' comment in his New Testament translation, (p552, note3) "There is a very curious Greek construction here, viz. a simple future followed by the perfect participle passive... It seems to me that if the words of Jesus are accurately reported here... Jesus' true disciples will be so led by the Spirit that they will be following the heavenly pattern. In other words, what they "forbid" or "permit" on earth will be consonant with the Divine rules."

Making our will to fall in line with God's Will is one of those points that non-believers bring up to argue that we are brainwashed and that we are just puppets in the hand of a pastor, rabbi, tzadik or holy man. "What happened to my will, to what I want?" - It's odd that God's Word tells us that that is the one point from which sin itself springs. Indeed, stepping away from the Will of the Creator is what brings death - the wages of sin are death, are they not? If the Creator is the Source of Life, then turning from Him only leaves one alternative; death. Turning our will back to His is repentance, it is a death of a different kind, death to self. Carrying our cross. But you see, here is the climax point that those posing questions of robotic obedience miss entirely: if the Source of Life made us who we are to begin with, then when we turn back to His Will, we are only going to get more of that "self" that He gave us upon conception. We will finally be whole people.

It is a good bet that most of what you did, chose, thought or even looked at before you knew God was just a reaction to what was tossed in your direction to begin with. Like another piece of nature, a stone in the stream, you reacted to your environment, not really being self-aware. Jesus says, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." We really are spiritually dead without Him. Though of course we all have a bit of that awareness which was cast to us when we were made in His image in the first place, but many deny even that, thinking they are so original, so 'free-thinking' and independent. God calls those who deny His existence fools.

God's Word really does bring light, it is Wisdom. When we make our will His, in our faithfulness (belief and perseverance, both aspects of faithfulness) in Christ Jesus, Jesus gives us the keys to the kingdom by making us 'tzadikim' - it was for his faith that Abraham was called righteous and so it is with us. God's Word should be freeing in every sense! Free from sin, freeing from the chains that bind us to this world as rocks in the stream. Free to pray for things and ask for things and wish for things in Jesus' name, in His Oneness with the Father, our God, Who longs to make us one with Him as well, who yearns to answer our prayers. Does our Father in heaven not know what we need? Does He not know how to give better than stones for bread? If we had faith the size of but a mustard seed!

Now, I'm not much of one for political debates on the authority of powers in heaven. I tend to think it is all His Authority. I will praise Him for whatever He wishes to do with that authority. On the other hand, it is very important for us to know the background and culture and context of what God is saying in His Word. The Word always sheds new light on our lives and I thank Him for that daily.