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So if the law defines sin, and Christ was sinless, we know that He kept the Law as it was meant to be kept. He kept even the least of the commands in accordance with Matthew 5:17-19:
“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.”
Matthew 5:17-19 ESV
For example, we see in several passages that He wore the Tzitzit tassel, a simple command from Numbers 15:40 which reminds one to keep the Torah. It reads:
“The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel 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. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.””
Numbers 15:37-41 ESV
Interestingly, those in Judaism don’t wear a blue tassel because Rabbi’s could not agree on the shade of blue, and so no blue is worn. They esteem Rabbinical interpretation through the Talmud as much as the written word of God. So in Israel, you will not see blue thread tzitzit, only white.
But you are a chosen people, Israel, a spiritual one, who worship by the spirit. We spent a good deal of time showing passages that demonstrate that if you are in Christ, you are Israel. If you are still skeptical, read scripture with an open mind, and you will see it everywhere. God’s people are Israel, and there is no other people. There are no ‘gentile’ believers. Once grafted in, you are Israel (Eph 2). For example, in Matthew 2, a seemingly innocuous passage of Herod learning of the Messiah’s birthplace:
“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Matthew 2:3-6 ESV
So if you are Israel, Numbers 15:37-41 which speaks of the Tzitzit, would seem to apply to you. It is directed at the people of Israel throughout their generations. Since we also spent time showing that God’s people is not defined by genetic lineage, this passage is not speaking to those who can trace their generations. It is talking to you, Israel.
The word fringe in Greek is Kraspedon, in greek (G2899). It is known as the prominent portion or tassel, and references the Tzizit from Numbers 15:37-41. Many Jews were reaching out to touch Christ’s tzitzit tassel, or fringe, in order to be healed, as we read in several places in the gospels:
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, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”
Matthew 9:20 ESV
56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Mark 6:56 ESV
44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
Luke 8:44 ESV
So how you wear the blue thread is up to interpretation, but personally, I try to be obedient the best way I know how. Scripture says to wear a blue thread to remind yourself of the commandments, and that’s what I do.
Interestingly, Jews stopped wearing blue threaded tzitzit’s after the 70AD destruction of the temple. They could not agree on the sea creature used to make the particular shade of blue from the Talmud, so they decided it was better not wear it. This is yet another curious coincidence where Judaism has essentially been unable to correctly keep the commandments since the time of Christ. It’s as if God made the old way of keeping the law obsolete by sending His Son into the world, so that even those who wanted to keep the old ways were unable to do so. The sacrificial system ceased with the destruction of the temple, and with it their ability to keep the law of Moses as originally written.
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