I just went and reread your original post and looked up Chinuch. You do realize that you are using a source that denies that Jesus is the Messiah, and may in fact deny that He even existed? It certainly denies the veracity of the very scripture you're using it to criticize. And you are using this source to explain away Jesus' words? This is the definition of making null the Word of God with the traditions of men, and in this case it isn't even the tradition of a Believer. This is very weak sauce indeed @Kevin and I wish I had caught on to that earlier so I could have pointed it out and left in a huff much sooner. I am forced to do so now after having actually debated whether the words of an unbeliever can be used to negate the teachings of the Messiah.
I am convinced that the modern Jews are the descendants of Israel. They are who they claim to be and I will back them to the hilt in almost any context. But even though the Truth came to them first, those who didn't accept Christ are not a reliable (note I did not say that they weren't valuable, just that they are not reliable) source for instruction on the New Testament. And the further the source is from the time of the New Testament the less valuable it is. Chinuch was published in the 1300's according to what I read so it has very little relevance to New Testament teachings and I don't think it claims any. If you really think this is an important topic then I ask that you find a teacher who believes in Jesus to help us interpret His words.
Look, this is the real danger in the Hebrew roots/Torah observant/Messianic movement. If Satan can't get us one way he'll try to use our momentum to get us the other way. As we come out of the mainstream church and start weighing and rejecting it's teaching we often look for replacements. That can be a harmless process. There's nothing wrong with traditions if they point us to the truth, but they can be very harmful if they start crowding out the truth. I have seen people end up rejecting Christ and leaving the faith because they have accepted non-believer's criticism of the New Testament. What you have done in this thread, completely rewrite a positive statement made by our very Jewish Messiah in to a meaningless mishmash of platitudes is very dangerous. And in fact it would rob the New Covenant of much of it's amazing message. Now we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. Now we have to add obedience of the heart to the obedience of the flesh. It's a beautiful and scary message and I for one see no reason to give it up, and certainly not on the word of someone who rejects the entire Gospel message to begin with.
I am convinced that the modern Jews are the descendants of Israel. They are who they claim to be and I will back them to the hilt in almost any context. But even though the Truth came to them first, those who didn't accept Christ are not a reliable (note I did not say that they weren't valuable, just that they are not reliable) source for instruction on the New Testament. And the further the source is from the time of the New Testament the less valuable it is. Chinuch was published in the 1300's according to what I read so it has very little relevance to New Testament teachings and I don't think it claims any. If you really think this is an important topic then I ask that you find a teacher who believes in Jesus to help us interpret His words.
Look, this is the real danger in the Hebrew roots/Torah observant/Messianic movement. If Satan can't get us one way he'll try to use our momentum to get us the other way. As we come out of the mainstream church and start weighing and rejecting it's teaching we often look for replacements. That can be a harmless process. There's nothing wrong with traditions if they point us to the truth, but they can be very harmful if they start crowding out the truth. I have seen people end up rejecting Christ and leaving the faith because they have accepted non-believer's criticism of the New Testament. What you have done in this thread, completely rewrite a positive statement made by our very Jewish Messiah in to a meaningless mishmash of platitudes is very dangerous. And in fact it would rob the New Covenant of much of it's amazing message. Now we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. Now we have to add obedience of the heart to the obedience of the flesh. It's a beautiful and scary message and I for one see no reason to give it up, and certainly not on the word of someone who rejects the entire Gospel message to begin with.