Apostolic Friends Forum - How SEPARATE was JESUS?

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How SEPARATE was JESUS?

The religious elite of Jesus' day believed that their degree of separatism was the clearest demarcation of their holiness. They are described as follows by one writer:

Quote:

.... in 135 BC, there was a split within the Hasidem. Some went off into politics and the others rededicated themselves with a pledge they would never depart from the Word of God and they would be God’s people in obedience to Him. They were nicknamed “The Separatist.” That is the word “Pharisee.” It means “the separated one.” They never called themselves Pharisees. That was a nickname people gave them. They had indeed separated themselves to God and separated themselves to keep His law, but they became fanatical. They would keep every law of God in their great zeal.

They called themselves “The Association.” They said they were associated with God’s Word and with those who love God’s Word. They did not associate with those who did not have their dedication to the Word of God. This is where it gets dangerous. Now comes the change for the worse. Here they are becoming narrow, because now they not only separate from the world, they separate themselves from their brothers and sisters who are Jews. They say, “You are not good enough for us. We are the Association.”

To get into the Association, initiation would take from 30 days to a year. You would have to study before you make your final vow to be a member of The Association. They saw themselves as the godly among the ungodly. They saw themselves as the true people of God because of their obedience. To them everyone else was phony. When they met each other on the street they would say, “Shalom, neighbor.” This was because the Scripture said to love your “neighbor” as yourself. They said what that really means is that you would love all members of the Association as yourself. I can hate everyone else because they are not like us. We are the neighbors. We are The Association.

So they were really getting serious. They asked themselves, “How do we go about keeping the law?” They brought in a thing called “the fences.” The fences were to stop you from even getting close to breaking the law. They had a lot of fences, rules and regulations. It grew to be over 2,000 fences. They forgot what the command was because they were so taken up with the fences. They forgot these fences that kept you from breaking the law were man-made and they called them the Word of God, too. Manmade traditions became as important as the Law itself.

Compare this to their criticisms of Jesus -

Matthew:

Quote:

8For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners.

See also Luke 7:33-34.

Note that the accusation was so rampant that two Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke find it necessary to address it.

For the Pharisees to call him a drunkard ... is it a stretch to infer that he was often seen sitting w/ others who were drinking alcoholic beverages ?

Also:

Quote:

Later that day, Jesus ate at Levi's house. There were many tax collectors and other bad people eating there with Jesus and his followers. There were many of these people that followed Jesus. The teachers of the law (they were Pharisees) saw Jesus eating with these tax collectors and other bad people. They asked Jesus' followers, "Why does he (Jesus) eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus heard this, and he said to them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor. It is the sick people that need a doctor. I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners."

Quote:

(ERV)

Now the Pharisees, of course, in one sense were right. According to the Law, an Israelite who placed himself in contact with ritually unclean people became unclean as well (Leviticus 15:7; Numbers 19:22).

Even Jesus disciples marveled and questioned why he would seemingly break rabbinic tradition and law and would sit and chat w/ the unclean ... especially females.

After they saw him speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well ... they marveled.

Quote:

John 4:27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

One writer relates, "They knew Jesus had clearly violated the rabbinic oral law, which said, “Let the words of the Law be burned rather than committed to a woman . . .” (Sotah), and Hebrew men in Jesus’ day were also taught, “One is not as much as to greet a woman” (Berakhoth)."

He even allowed a woman of ill-repute, to wash his feet with her tears, kiss his feet, dry them w/ her hair and anoint them w/ oil .

There is no doubt that this was scandalous to many.

Here are my questions ....

Why did Jesus spend so much time with some of the most vile sinners of His day?

Was Jesus' Holiness contagious? ... Why is it he was able to seemingly "fellowship" w/ darkness being the Light of the World?

Would Jesus' method of evangelism and Holiness living be accepted among modern day Apostolicdom?

How separate was Jesus?

What does it mean when the Word says ... "Be ye separate"?