In the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes the command to a Jew to...

In the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes the command to a Jew to offer or to taste swine's flesh was used as a means of determining whether he was loyal to the religion of his fathers or was willing to accept the worship favoured by his conquerers (I Macc. 1:47,50; II Macc. 6:18,21; 7:1,7). But many Jews.affected Grecian manners, and John Hyrcanus found it advisable to issue an edict that no one should keep swine.

In the time of Christ one large herd of swine at least was pastured in the Decapelis (Mark 5:11,13), a region colonized by Gr eks, among whom the swine was highly esteemed as an article of food. There is no reason to suppose that Jews owned either these swines or those in the far country fed by the prodigal son (Luke 15:15)" (pp.584-5) Similar statements may be found in almost all Bible dictionaries. QUESTION: Thank you very much.

But I have just observed that all these quotations are from the Old Testament. They are binding upon the Jews. But we, the Christians, would like to know what was the teaching of Jesus Christ on this subject. ANSWER: Well, I was coming to that point. You see, whatever the teaching of Old Testament, the same was the teaching of Jesus Christ.

He says in clear words that the laws of the Old Testament were to be obeyed without any change: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men, so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven." (Mat., 5: 17- 19).

QUESTION: I remember reading this saying of the Gospel several times. Sometimes I wondered why Christ stressed this point in so many words? ANSWER: It was because he knew that after his ascension some of his followers would denounce the Law. Jesus Christ himself obeyed the Law faithfully. It was only after his departure from this world that St.

Paul, a forceful orator, and a member of "elite" circle of the society, who took to heart the Greek 'advanced' civilisation (as many people now-a-days take pride in being 'Westernised') prevailed upon the illiterate and simple-minded Christians to abandon the Law. The fact that he himself had never met Jesus Christ, and those who opposed him were constant companions of Christ, is most revealing. Jesus Christ corrected Pharisees' misinterpretation of the Law.