Jesus the Rabbi

As a Western thinker, my approach to Jesus has always been very cerebral--I try to learn from Jesus through knowledge. Though knowledge is one of the pathways to being a disciple it can be limiting and quite frankly boring. In my humble opinion, one of the reasons some people walk away from following Christ is because they cannot make the connection between knowledge and living life. Perhaps this is becasue pastors, ministers, and teachers have "muddied the waters", I know I am guilty of that.

With that being said, I have found it refreshing to discover Jesus the Rabbi. It provides a new perspective on what it means to follow the Christ. Here is another excerpt from Ray Vander Laan on Jesus the Rabbi.


"The Text tells us that Jesus was recognized as a rabbi. A Pharisee, a Sadducee, a Roman, and a Gentile-all refered to Jesus as "rabbi." Like the typical rabbis of his day, Jesus:

- depended on the hospitality of others (Luke 8:3).

- traveled, teaching outside or in synagogues, homes, and even the Temple courts (Luke 4:14-6; Matt. 5:1-2; 26:55; Mark 6:2).

- was accompanied by his disciples (Matt. 17:24; Matt. 20:29). He selected a group of students who followed Him, learning as they went.

- encouraged his followers to take on the "yoke of Torah" (i.e., they would commit to obeying Torah as the rabbi taught) (Matt. 11:29-30).

- taught mainly from the first five books of the Old Testament.

Like many rabbis of his day, Jesus told parables and gave object lessons to convey truth. He was a master storyteller who often wove biblical concepts and passages together in a new way.

The people of his day recognized Jesus as being a rabbi with s'mikeh-he was an exceptionally gifted rabbi with the authority to teach his own interpretations of the Word. As Matthew 7 records, "the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."

As a s'mikeh rabbi, Jesus had probably memorized the entire Hebrew Testament. His teaching assumed that his audience also knew a great deal of the Text by memory. He often quoted a portion of a passage, knowing that his audience would remember the rest.

Jesus was careful to use passages and concepts that his audience would know. When speaking to women, for example, he quoted from Psalms, one of the books that girls studied during their synagogue education. And when teaching in non-Jewish areas, he would not quote from the Text at all, but would draw on word pictures and concepts from their own culture." ~ Ray Vander Laan from www.followtherabbi.com