By Bean-Sprouts Shall No Flesh Be Justified

Tents of Mercy Congregation

Kiryat Yam, Israel

From the first printing of the article in 2007

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:5)

In the early 1970s, my wife Katya and I lived on her parents’ property, an old farm in Maryland, about an hour’s drive north of Washington, D.C. Our desire and aim was to live the “good life,” to get away from civilization and return to nature. I built an apartment in the barn. We heated and cooked with wood, got our milk and eggs from our own goats and chickens and did not have running water or an indoor toilet.  

Part of living this way involved an intense focus on purity of diet. Now it is certainly true that junk food is detrimental to one’s health; and that a nutritionally sound diet can help keep us well in body and mind. However, whole and healthy foods will not give us the ability to live forever, nor will they make us more spiritual.  

Back then we were sure that we were on the path to enlightenment; and that nutrition was as much a part of it as meditation. (Becoming followers of Yeshua in 1972, brought about some major alterations in our theological perspectives.)

One of the foods trumpeted in the world of hippie spirituality was the humble sprout. Almost any grain or bean can be sprouted; and when the tiny green protrusion begins to push its way out of the shell, all sorts of miraculous nutritional goodies become available for the ingesting. (This is actually true.)

Generally, Katya sprouted mung beans and alfalfa seeds. She would begin by placing a small amount of beans or seeds to be sprouted in a jar. Each jar had a thin piece of material stretched across its mouth through which water was poured over the contents and then drained, leaving the beans in a moist and airy environment conducive to sprouting. In a relatively short time the jar interiors were a jungle of miniature intertwined serpentine vines of various thickness, from the thin wispy threads of alfalfa sprouts to the plump presence produced by mung beans.

Of course, the sprouts were a nice addition to a salad or some lightly sautéed vegetables, not as the main meal. However, Hippy Moshe (me) was focused on getting super healthy (and probably ascending to a higher level of consciousness as well). I figured that if one or two varieties of sprouts were good then how much more magnificent would a multiplicity be. I found several more jars and put in each one whatever other beans and seeds were in our pantry. Katya warned me that in spite of the fact that any seed or bean could be sprouted; they might not be very tasty together. But I would not be dissuaded. Soon my harvest was ready. I grabbed my plate and filled it with a heaping variety of sprouts – surely a cosmic combination. A little lemon juice sprinkled on top, and I was ready to rock.

With every mouthful I could almost feel energy and enlightenment saturating my being. However, also along with every bite was a growing awareness of how unpleasant this stuff tasted. I got the distinct impression that I was grazing in the grass. I couldn’t go on. The whole thing was just a revolting mess of weeds. Nauseated, I tossed it out the door onto the lawn where it belonged. It would be years before I could look at another bean sprout. 

While abusing bean sprouts and striving to earn righteousness may seem miles apart, my underlying problem was the same. The more excessive one gets, I thought, surely the rewards will be reaped proportionally! 

Much of the book of Romans deals with the contrast between the righteousness of man and the righteousness of God. Simply put, the latter is a gift received by faith while the former is an attempt to achieve the acceptance of God by self-effort. 

If Yeshua paid such a high price (His own suffering and death) in order to secure for us a righteous standing before our Father, how can we think that we can earn it (or maintain it) ourselves by doing stuff, no matter how good?

In Romans 10:2-3, Rav Sha’ul (Paul the Apostle) exclaims that his religious Jewish brethren “have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” This problem is not limited to religious Jews who reject Yeshua. It also afflicts the followers of Yeshua. 

Part of the danger of this way of thinking is that it inevitably leads to discouragement. We never seem to achieve the standard to which we aspire because “by the works [self-effort in the performance] of the Torah shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20). The ensuing discouragement then leads to the throwing out of the “baby with the bean sprouts.”

“God made Yeshua (Jesus), who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) 

It is only as we embrace this truth about who we are in Messiah, that we can walk as He intended. “In order that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4).

Interestingly enough, sprouts do carry a very powerful confirmation of this message in themselves. A sprout is a picture of resurrection. Out of a dead and dry shell comes new life with marvelous potential. But the method is not scarfing down platefuls of every variety we find, but in embracing the One who literally came forth from the grave. Our new life of righteousness and our continued living hope has come through the resurrection of Yeshua (1 Peter1:3). He is the shoot that sprang from the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). He is the tender plant that came like a root out of parched ground (Isaiah 53:2). He is the rod of Aaron that not only sprouted, but put forth buds, blossoms and ripe almonds (Numbers 17:8). When we embrace Him we receive all the benefits that come from that resurrection life. We do get “spiritual” and we do live forever!

And when Israel embraces that message, the whole world will benefit. “In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout; and they will fill the whole world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6).

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