Acts 11:25-26 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christiansg5546.
The Greek word translated ‘Christian’ is Strong’s g5546 Χριστιανός Christianós: a Christian, i.e. follower of Christ:—Christian.
Being a Christian, that is, a follower of Christ, means to walk as Yeshua Messiah walked.
1 John 2:4-6 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Yeshua obeyed the Law of YHWH perfectly. He observed the Sabbaths and kept YHWH’s Appointed Times. He obeyed all of the Torah. To be a Christian—a Christ-follower—means to follow in Yeshua’s footsteps and live your life as He lived His, in obedience to YHWH’s Law.
Yeshua’s Actions
Was Baptised
Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. But John restrained Him, saying, I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me? But answering Jesus said to him, Allow it now, for it is becoming to us this way to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed Him, And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from Him, and He saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove, and coming upon Him. And behold! A voice out of Heaven saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found delight. (Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22)
Obeyed YHWH’s Law
John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
John 14:31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Romans 5:19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Wore Tzit-tzits
Numbers 15:37-40 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tasselsh6734 on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tasselh6734 of each corner. And it shall be a tasselh6734 for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
Strong’s h6734 צִיצִת tzit-tzit: a floral or wing-like projection, i.e. a fore-lock of hair, a tassel:—fringe, lock.
Matthew 9:20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment. (Luke 8:43-44)
Fringe is an English translation of the Hebrew word ‘tzit-tzit’, which in Greek is Strong’s g2899 κράσπεδον kráspedon: a margin, i.e. (specially), a fringe or tassel:—border, hem. In classical Greek the extremity or prominent part of a thing, edge, skirt, margin; the fringe of a garment; in the New Testament for Hebrew צִיצִית, i. e. a little appendage hanging down from the edge of the mantle or cloak, made of twisted wool; a tassel, tuft. The Jews had such appendages attached to their mantles to remind them of the law.
Matthew 14:36 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Mark 6:56)
Observed Passover and Unleavened Bread
Matthew 26:17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” (Mark 14:12)
Mary and Joseph celebrated Passover every year.
Luke 2:41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.
Observed Sukkot
John 7:1-10 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.
Taught in the Synagogues and Proclaimed the Gospel
Matthew 4:23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
Matthew 9:35-38 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Yeshua’s Instructions
Repentance
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The Apostles Taught Repentance and Baptism.
Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Obey the Law and the Prophets
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mark 12:28)
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’
Luke 11:28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
John 12:50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.
John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
When Necessary: Help, Heal, Feed, and Preach on the Sabbath
Yeshua did not teach against resting on the Sabbath, rather, He taught that providing for our needs and safety has a higher priority.
Matthew 12:1-13 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “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.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
Mark 2:23-28 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Obey YHWH’s Law, Not the Traditions of Men
Matthew 15:1-3 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
Mark 7:1-13 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.
Whoever Seeks to Save His Life Will Lose It
Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Luke 9:23-25)
Yeshua’s actions were aligned with His teachings; if that were not true He would have been a hypocrite. His actions and teachings, therefore, serve as a model for our own conduct. Messiah Yeshua lived and taught obedience to the whole Law of YHWH. To be a Christ-follower means to live and teach obedience to the Torah.
May you be blessed by this study. Shalom.