What comes to mind when you hear the word rabbi? 00:00:01.09\00:00:04.08 I wonder how many people 00:00:04.11\00:00:05.89 think rabbi and think of Jesus at the same time. 00:00:05.92\00:00:09.65 Join us today on Back to our Roots 00:00:09.68\00:00:11.99 as we explore Jesus, the rabbi. 00:00:12.02\00:00:15.54 Welcome to "Back To Our Roots." 00:00:35.42\00:00:37.61 I am Pastor Alex Schlusser. 00:00:37.64\00:00:39.78 And I'm Rachel Hyman. 00:00:39.81\00:00:41.11 And we're so happy 00:00:41.14\00:00:42.43 that you've chose to join us today. 00:00:42.46\00:00:44.77 We have a great program plan for you today. 00:00:44.80\00:00:48.03 We're gonna be talking about the rabbi Jesus. 00:00:48.06\00:00:52.45 I don't know how many people say the word rabbi 00:00:52.48\00:00:54.93 and think in terms of Jesus. 00:00:54.96\00:00:56.56 Rachel, when you think of that word rabbi, 00:00:56.59\00:00:59.71 what comes to mind for you? 00:00:59.74\00:01:01.73 Well, growing up Jewish 00:01:01.76\00:01:03.22 I certainly didn't think about Jesus, 00:01:03.25\00:01:05.40 you know, when I saw the pictures, 00:01:05.43\00:01:07.49 he was just very Christian, Gentile looking. 00:01:07.52\00:01:10.88 But today as a Christian, 00:01:10.91\00:01:12.61 you know, when I think of the term rabbi, 00:01:12.64\00:01:14.07 I think of something like a pastor 00:01:14.10\00:01:15.24 in the Christian community, 00:01:15.27\00:01:16.31 a rabbi in the Jewish community, 00:01:16.34\00:01:17.78 except maybe he is even more so looked up to. 00:01:17.81\00:01:21.33 You know, I think the most common-- 00:01:21.36\00:01:24.03 If you ask somebody, what is a rabbi? 00:01:24.06\00:01:25.51 They're gonna say rabbi is teacher. 00:01:25.54\00:01:26.77 Right. 00:01:26.80\00:01:28.72 And ever since the word a rabbi is a teacher, 00:01:28.75\00:01:30.77 but a rabbi is way more than that 00:01:30.80\00:01:32.57 and that's what we're gonna explore today. 00:01:32.60\00:01:34.67 We're gonna take a look from both the historical perspective 00:01:34.70\00:01:38.04 and from a biblical perspective 00:01:38.07\00:01:40.58 to try and understand where did this position come from 00:01:40.61\00:01:43.60 and how did Jesus fit into that as a rabbi. 00:01:43.63\00:01:47.83 So before we go any much, any further, 00:01:47.86\00:01:50.12 I want to invite our friend Sasha to come join us. 00:01:50.15\00:01:56.18 Hey, Sasha. Hey, Alex. 00:01:56.21\00:01:58.18 How are you? How are you, Rachel? 00:01:58.21\00:02:00.08 He is our resident scholar. 00:02:00.11\00:02:02.23 And it's always a pleasure to have you with us as usual. 00:02:02.26\00:02:05.65 Yes. Pleasure to be with you. 00:02:05.68\00:02:07.46 Yeah. You know, I think that 00:02:07.49\00:02:09.15 we should just change you as a guest to a co-host. 00:02:09.18\00:02:11.79 Or to a rabbi. Or to the rabbi co-host. 00:02:11.82\00:02:15.23 Yeah. 00:02:15.26\00:02:16.42 So Sasha, today we're talking about 00:02:16.45\00:02:18.77 this idea of the rabbi Jesus 00:02:18.80\00:02:21.52 and most Christians certainly would not think 00:02:21.55\00:02:26.19 in terms of the rabbi Jesus and as Rachel, 00:02:26.22\00:02:28.89 so beautifully brought out. 00:02:28.92\00:02:30.77 You know, as a Jew the last thing 00:02:30.80\00:02:32.44 I would've ever thought. It's almost offensive. 00:02:32.47\00:02:34.40 Is to say Jesus was a rabbi. 00:02:34.43\00:02:36.55 Because of these pictures 00:02:36.58\00:02:38.15 that we have of who He was which was totally wrong 00:02:38.18\00:02:42.01 and what a rabbi is? 00:02:42.04\00:02:43.33 So we want to get into this, Sasha. 00:02:43.36\00:02:45.47 And we want to first look at a historical 00:02:45.50\00:02:48.13 and a biblical perspective on the idea 00:02:48.16\00:02:52.64 and where does this concept or position of rabbi come from? 00:02:52.67\00:02:58.14 It's what's known in history intertestamental period, 00:02:58.17\00:03:03.93 the period after the last book of the Old Testament, 00:03:03.96\00:03:07.19 the Book of Malachi. 00:03:07.22\00:03:08.25 And before the New Testament. Yeah, written. 00:03:08.28\00:03:10.30 So it's-- that time 00:03:10.33\00:03:13.01 there was a big transformation in Jewish society. 00:03:13.04\00:03:16.76 According to the Torah, the Book of Numbers, 00:03:16.79\00:03:20.33 the Book of Leviticus actually talk about this a lot. 00:03:20.36\00:03:24.68 The task of teaching people the principles of Torah 00:03:24.71\00:03:30.63 was given to the tribe of Levi. 00:03:30.66\00:03:33.98 They were settled in different 00:03:34.01\00:03:36.13 Levitical town across the tribes, 00:03:36.16\00:03:38.62 Levitical towns across-- throughout the 12 tribes. 00:03:38.65\00:03:42.41 And that's where people would go to them and they would, 00:03:42.44\00:03:46.13 you know, teach them. 00:03:46.16\00:03:48.10 And rabbi--these Levites and priest would preserve 00:03:48.13\00:03:52.32 the scripture and so forth. 00:03:52.35\00:03:54.80 But what happened in period of between the testaments, 00:03:54.83\00:04:00.13 one of the event--the key event was the occupation of Judea 00:04:00.16\00:04:05.99 by Syrian Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. 00:04:06.02\00:04:12.51 Okay, okay, I got you. 00:04:12.54\00:04:15.01 And Antiochus IV, which is second century BC, 00:04:15.04\00:04:22.32 176 BC, if I'm not mistaken. 00:04:22.35\00:04:30.27 What these Antiochus wanted, 00:04:30.30\00:04:33.74 he wanted Jews to be like everybody else. 00:04:33.77\00:04:38.48 You know, thinking, believing in Greek gods, 00:04:38.51\00:04:41.91 adopting Greek culture which was very contrary to the Torah. 00:04:41.94\00:04:46.67 And the problem was that many temple priests 00:04:46.70\00:04:50.73 gave into that and they decided to 00:04:50.76\00:04:54.69 in order to preserve the nation, they had to adapt 00:04:54.72\00:04:58.68 to the pressure of a Greek culture. 00:04:58.71\00:05:01.61 Well, there was a Maccabean Revolt 00:05:01.64\00:05:04.63 and these people stood firm, they took over the temple, 00:05:04.66\00:05:10.04 they kicked out Syrians and everything. 00:05:10.07\00:05:13.34 I'm not gonna talk too much. 00:05:13.37\00:05:14.84 But this is just real briefly this is 00:05:14.87\00:05:16.81 where the story of Hanukkah comes from 00:05:16.84\00:05:19.41 and the celebration the festival of light. 00:05:19.44\00:05:21.39 It's the reestablishment the sanctuary, the temple 00:05:21.42\00:05:26.72 is cleansed and they're able to reinstitute 00:05:26.75\00:05:30.02 to relight the menorah and begin worshipping again. 00:05:30.05\00:05:34.29 So what happens afterwards 00:05:34.32\00:05:36.30 because of the position of the priesthood 00:05:36.33\00:05:38.90 you're in the Syrian occupation of Judea 00:05:38.93\00:05:43.08 they lost authority with people. 00:05:43.11\00:05:45.54 And priesthood became so Hellenized 00:05:45.57\00:05:49.69 that they were not anymore teaching the Bible 00:05:49.72\00:05:52.69 as they were supposed to be. 00:05:52.72\00:05:54.42 In fact, many priests form the cast known as Sadducees. 00:05:54.45\00:06:00.70 So the alternative was the Pharisees. 00:06:00.73\00:06:04.80 The Pharisees, the word Pharisees 00:06:04.83\00:06:07.78 from Hebrew Perushim means interpreters of the Bible. 00:06:07.81\00:06:12.41 They were lay people who stood instead of Levites 00:06:12.44\00:06:17.57 and started teaching Torah to the people. 00:06:17.60\00:06:21.51 So among them they were very knowledgeable authorities 00:06:21.54\00:06:27.66 who were became renowned. 00:06:27.69\00:06:30.63 These authorities were called rabbi. 00:06:30.66\00:06:33.64 In Aramaic rabbi, rab means great. 00:06:33.67\00:06:37.66 So it's the figure what everybody looks up to. 00:06:37.69\00:06:40.90 So then the idea that rabbi being interpret 00:06:40.93\00:06:45.17 as teacher, is that incorrect? 00:06:45.20\00:06:48.40 It is-- Let's put it this way. 00:06:48.43\00:06:52.93 Every rabbi is a teacher of the Torah, 00:06:52.96\00:06:56.01 not every teacher is the rabbi. 00:06:56.04\00:06:59.55 Right. 00:06:59.58\00:07:00.68 So then somebody could say, you know, 00:07:00.71\00:07:04.91 a person in a religious position, 00:07:04.94\00:07:12.25 it's not improper to call them rabbi. 00:07:12.28\00:07:15.52 In historically, historically, rabbi was, you know, 00:07:15.55\00:07:21.29 at this time there were many other teachers. 00:07:21.32\00:07:24.46 In Greek or Roman world there were 00:07:24.49\00:07:26.70 famous philosophers that taught and they had their disciples. 00:07:26.73\00:07:32.87 So rabbis were kind of on the opposite side. 00:07:32.90\00:07:36.95 Rabbis provided the alternative education system. 00:07:36.98\00:07:41.59 Philosophers, educated people based on human reasoning. 00:07:41.62\00:07:46.75 Rabbis were educating people based on divine revelation. 00:07:46.78\00:07:52.49 So it is incorrect. 00:07:52.52\00:07:53.89 Sometimes I hear this when they say, 00:07:53.92\00:07:55.79 "Oh, disciples of Jesus were uneducated." 00:07:55.82\00:07:59.27 Wrong. They were educated. 00:07:59.30\00:08:01.75 They were not educated in Greek philosophy. 00:08:01.78\00:08:05.69 But they were educated in Torah. 00:08:05.72\00:08:07.19 They were educated in Torah. 00:08:07.22\00:08:09.44 They just-- They were diligent students of the Torah. 00:08:09.47\00:08:13.25 They had their-- It's an education of a kind. 00:08:13.28\00:08:16.91 So we actually in the first century Judea 00:08:16.94\00:08:20.80 when Jesus comes, 00:08:20.83\00:08:22.12 we deal with two competing education system. 00:08:22.15\00:08:26.70 You can get education, have a good position 00:08:26.73\00:08:31.15 in the Roman government. 00:08:31.18\00:08:32.71 Move up, you got to go to a philosophical school, 00:08:32.74\00:08:35.45 become philosopher, become all Hellenize 00:08:35.48\00:08:38.61 or you can go behind this and sit with these rabbis, 00:08:38.64\00:08:43.27 sit at their feet in their small houses. 00:08:43.30\00:08:46.90 These rabbis were not rich people, you know. 00:08:46.93\00:08:51.06 Yeah, they were very humble. They spent all these times. 00:08:51.09\00:08:54.63 They were so poor. 00:08:54.66\00:08:55.78 Some story tells that they had like one prayer shawl, 00:08:55.81\00:08:59.72 the teacher had one prayer shawl or tallit 00:08:59.75\00:09:02.15 and he had 12 disciples under that-- his prayer shawl. 00:09:02.18\00:09:09.31 So you can see the parallel 00:09:09.34\00:09:11.35 between Jesus having 12 disciples 00:09:11.38\00:09:14.75 and some other rabbis having 12 disciples. 00:09:14.78\00:09:18.40 So before we get, you know, kind of ahead of ourselves, 00:09:18.43\00:09:22.92 we're talking now that-- 00:09:22.95\00:09:25.16 We're understanding what this term rabbi is. 00:09:25.19\00:09:28.34 And that it is teacher, but the term rabbi 00:09:28.37\00:09:31.58 then is more specific when we're talking about 00:09:31.61\00:09:33.74 those that are teaching of God. 00:09:33.77\00:09:36.07 Exactly. Teacher from the divine revelation. 00:09:36.10\00:09:38.47 Exactly. 00:09:38.50\00:09:39.53 So let's again we're gonna move forward 00:09:39.56\00:09:42.48 and we want to talk about Jesus. 00:09:42.51\00:09:44.68 In the Gospel of John Chapter 1, 00:09:44.71\00:09:47.21 beginning verse 35 I want to read for you. 00:09:47.24\00:09:49.84 This is I believe, Sasha, the first time 00:09:49.87\00:09:52.80 that Jesus is called rabbi. 00:09:52.83\00:09:55.42 Exactly. In fact, this is the first time 00:09:55.45\00:09:59.90 Jesus was addressed ever. 00:09:59.93\00:10:02.75 He was addressed by the disciples of John the Baptist. 00:10:02.78\00:10:06.96 And in fact, if we look at the Acts Chapter 1 00:10:06.99\00:10:10.75 we discover that John the Baptist was the rabbi, 00:10:10.78\00:10:14.54 was considered a rabbi. 00:10:14.57\00:10:16.49 He had his disciples. 00:10:16.52\00:10:18.42 And so when he pointed to Jesus-- 00:10:18.45\00:10:21.73 So let me read this, okay. And it goes. 00:10:21.76\00:10:24.70 This is again John Chapter 35-- 00:10:24.73\00:10:27.31 John Chapter 1 beginning at verse 35. 00:10:27.34\00:10:30.78 "The next day again John was standing 00:10:30.81\00:10:32.37 with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus 00:10:32.40\00:10:34.97 and as he walked by and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' 00:10:35.00\00:10:41.26 The two disciples heard him say this, 00:10:41.29\00:10:44.63 and they followed Jesus. 00:10:44.66\00:10:46.13 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, 00:10:46.16\00:10:48.80 'What are you seeking?' 00:10:48.83\00:10:50.37 And they said to him, 'Rabbi.'" 00:10:50.40\00:10:52.11 And it has in parenthesis in my Bible 00:10:52.14\00:10:54.67 which means teacher. 00:10:54.70\00:10:57.53 "Where are you staying?" 00:10:57.56\00:11:00.91 Where do you live? 00:11:00.94\00:11:01.97 Yeah, where do you live? Where are you staying? 00:11:02.00\00:11:03.67 It's kind of an interesting how, you know. 00:11:03.70\00:11:06.44 It's like, more of a startle 00:11:06.47\00:11:09.07 because if you look at these disciples 00:11:09.10\00:11:11.31 where they come from, they were shown a Messiah 00:11:11.34\00:11:17.02 and they-- if you study carefully 00:11:17.05\00:11:20.78 where Jesus was in Nazareth, where His disciples were, 00:11:20.81\00:11:24.00 they couldn't avoid knowing each other over the years. 00:11:24.03\00:11:27.60 They were too close. 00:11:27.63\00:11:29.06 So it was so surprised to this. Rabbi, where do you live? 00:11:29.09\00:11:33.47 So you're saying, more than likely the disciples of John 00:11:33.50\00:11:37.40 had crossed paths with Jesus and knew Him. 00:11:37.43\00:11:40.80 And so when John proclaims him the Lamb of God 00:11:40.83\00:11:45.76 that must have been quite a shock to them. 00:11:45.79\00:11:47.60 They didn't expect their neighbor to be that Messiah, 00:11:47.63\00:11:52.70 but what gives them credit, 00:11:52.73\00:11:56.02 they immediately accepted Him as a new rabbi. 00:11:56.05\00:11:58.54 Right. They just-- 00:11:58.57\00:11:59.60 It was that because they were inspired by His teachings 00:11:59.63\00:12:01.70 because obviously they didn't have knowledge 00:12:01.73\00:12:04.36 that He went any type of rabbinical school. 00:12:04.39\00:12:06.88 Was it just because they could just tell by the way, 00:12:06.91\00:12:09.79 His stance was and the atmosphere 00:12:09.82\00:12:11.60 that surrounded him and what he was teaching 00:12:11.63\00:12:13.06 that they called Him rabbi? 00:12:13.09\00:12:14.36 Well, they called Him rabbi because their teacher 00:12:14.39\00:12:17.58 John the Baptist pointed them to Him. 00:12:17.61\00:12:21.13 And they trusted John? 00:12:21.16\00:12:22.19 They trusted John. I would say this. 00:12:22.22\00:12:26.30 It wouldn't be exactly correct to say that Jesus 00:12:26.33\00:12:29.76 never studied anywhere. 00:12:29.79\00:12:31.55 This is not-- 00:12:31.58\00:12:33.02 But He didn't go through 00:12:33.05\00:12:34.08 all the traditional rabbinical training, right, or did He? 00:12:34.11\00:12:36.26 Well, He did not. No. But He started with rabbis. 00:12:36.29\00:12:40.68 We have Luke Chapter 2 points specifically 00:12:40.71\00:12:44.33 He went to school to study for his 00:12:44.36\00:12:46.68 what's known in Jewish tradition as Bar Mitzvah. 00:12:46.71\00:12:49.63 Exactly, so he didn't-- He studied with rabbi 00:12:49.66\00:12:53.01 but He did not follow any specific for the sake rabbi, 00:12:53.04\00:12:57.87 that specific for the sake rabbi 00:12:57.90\00:13:00.22 did not ordained Him as His success. 00:13:00.25\00:13:03.86 And that is typically part of becoming a traditional rabbi. 00:13:03.89\00:13:06.65 Well, so He's kind of out on his own 00:13:06.68\00:13:08.50 as we had talked about in a previous program. 00:13:08.53\00:13:12.97 Sorry, did John the Baptist did that kind of count 00:13:13.00\00:13:15.85 with the dough coming down? 00:13:15.88\00:13:17.17 Was that kind of like his ordination so to speak? 00:13:17.20\00:13:18.73 Well, he was ordination from God, exactly. 00:13:18.76\00:13:21.70 Okay. So he didn't need to follow any-- 00:13:21.73\00:13:24.07 The voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son." 00:13:24.10\00:13:28.82 Well, the Pharisee tradition says 00:13:28.85\00:13:31.38 we're not listening to the voices from heaven 00:13:31.41\00:13:34.50 and that's where the encounter became because Jesus had become 00:13:34.53\00:13:40.55 the rabbi based on the divine voice 00:13:40.58\00:13:43.04 from heaven and-- 00:13:43.07\00:13:44.36 He was the ultimate teacher. Ultimate rabbi. 00:13:44.39\00:13:46.68 Who better to teach than the one that had penned, right? 00:13:46.71\00:13:52.22 So I think that we've established that Jesus 00:13:52.25\00:13:55.63 is a legitimate rabbi by the definition 00:13:55.66\00:13:57.94 of what we're saying a rabbi is, then if you're a rabbi, 00:13:57.97\00:14:02.47 you have to have people to follow you, right? 00:14:02.50\00:14:05.33 And so we get to His disciples, okay. 00:14:05.36\00:14:10.45 Let's talk a little bit about that. 00:14:10.48\00:14:11.62 What exactly that meant for someone to be 00:14:11.65\00:14:14.97 a disciple one who followed the rabbi? 00:14:15.00\00:14:18.82 Because I think that there is an illusion 00:14:18.85\00:14:20.54 when they asked the question in this passage, 00:14:20.57\00:14:23.35 where are you staying, there's more to that-- 00:14:23.38\00:14:26.21 It's almost like, can I follow you? 00:14:26.24\00:14:27.34 Can I come to you? Well, exactly. 00:14:27.37\00:14:28.40 There's more to it, than just I'm gonna 00:14:28.43\00:14:30.30 sit in class with you. 00:14:30.33\00:14:31.85 Correct? 00:14:31.88\00:14:32.98 Oh, people, I don't have time to tell all these stories 00:14:33.01\00:14:37.40 about how these disciples lived so close with rabbis. 00:14:37.43\00:14:41.94 Jesus in this case was not unique. 00:14:41.97\00:14:44.47 Unlike these fancy Roman schools, 00:14:44.50\00:14:49.12 you know, the rabbinic schools were extremely humble, 00:14:49.15\00:14:52.89 extremely simple. 00:14:52.92\00:14:54.18 They depended on a sustenance 00:14:54.21\00:14:56.71 that community have provided for them. 00:14:56.74\00:14:59.60 And, you know, we have these women in Bethsaida, 00:14:59.63\00:15:06.32 Bethsaida that gave them food, 00:15:06.35\00:15:08.45 you know, these things like this. 00:15:08.48\00:15:10.25 But generally it was an honor in small 00:15:10.28\00:15:15.39 rural community of Galilee when young man decides 00:15:15.42\00:15:20.81 to become a disciple of the sage. 00:15:20.84\00:15:24.47 So, these disciples-- this is how Jesus formed 00:15:24.50\00:15:29.85 the circle of His disciples. 00:15:29.88\00:15:33.07 So it's way more than just them sitting around 00:15:33.10\00:15:36.96 and Him rolling out a scroll 00:15:36.99\00:15:39.30 and teaching them how to read Hebrew 00:15:39.33\00:15:41.34 or here is what this passage means 00:15:41.37\00:15:42.97 or what that passage means, right. 00:15:43.00\00:15:44.83 Because the inference I believed was that these-- 00:15:44.86\00:15:48.96 these men would live and eat and walk and go 00:15:48.99\00:15:52.21 and be wherever He was and Jesus is model it seems like 00:15:52.24\00:15:56.82 of teaching them was so experiential, 00:15:56.85\00:16:00.10 right, that He would do things 00:16:00.13\00:16:01.86 and He would show and He would interact with people 00:16:01.89\00:16:04.26 and He would show them here is how you do it, 00:16:04.29\00:16:06.42 here is how you teach, this is what you do. 00:16:06.45\00:16:08.57 And then He would in turn later 00:16:08.60\00:16:10.81 we see Jesus having His disciples actually doing it 00:16:10.84\00:16:14.52 and then them coming back and Him correcting them 00:16:14.55\00:16:17.27 and teaching them okay, wait a minute 00:16:17.30\00:16:18.63 the reason this didn't work 00:16:18.66\00:16:19.96 was because you didn't do this 00:16:19.99\00:16:21.16 or you didn't do that. 00:16:21.19\00:16:22.91 Have you ever heard the statement 00:16:22.94\00:16:24.32 that the disciples must be covered 00:16:24.35\00:16:26.67 in the dust of the rabbi's feet? 00:16:26.70\00:16:28.18 Oh, that's the one of the first-- 00:16:28.21\00:16:32.00 one of the first from many books 00:16:32.03\00:16:33.90 known as Teachings of the Fathers, 00:16:33.93\00:16:36.88 you know, one of the first pages says, 00:16:36.91\00:16:39.12 find yourself for yourself a rabbi, 00:16:39.15\00:16:42.55 eat from the dust of His feet. 00:16:42.58\00:16:46.36 That's the honor-- honorable thing 00:16:46.39\00:16:49.52 you know to really immerse. 00:16:49.55\00:16:54.49 Right, so, this was a teaching style 00:16:54.52\00:16:56.75 that is not just lecture, 00:16:56.78\00:16:59.54 no this is a teaching style 00:16:59.57\00:17:01.34 that required living with that rabbi, 00:17:01.37\00:17:04.89 that's why I brought up when they would say 00:17:04.92\00:17:06.74 where are you staying? 00:17:06.77\00:17:07.98 We want to live with you, we want to eat your dust. 00:17:08.01\00:17:11.04 Yeah, exactly that's absolutely right. 00:17:11.07\00:17:13.82 That's the alternative more though 00:17:13.85\00:17:17.14 to the classical education we're used to 00:17:17.17\00:17:19.79 where you come and you go, 00:17:19.82\00:17:21.93 you have your own life, no, 00:17:21.96\00:17:23.42 you have the same like you share your life with rabbi, 00:17:23.45\00:17:27.35 with your rabbi you share your food with your rabbi, 00:17:27.38\00:17:30.82 you share everything with your rabbi. 00:17:30.85\00:17:33.09 Can I take just a moment 00:17:33.12\00:17:34.47 and say that I think that one of-- 00:17:34.50\00:17:37.80 I mean there are so many great loses that 00:17:37.83\00:17:39.56 we have had in the body of Messiah as Christians 00:17:39.59\00:17:42.98 and I think one of them is really 00:17:43.01\00:17:46.33 attaching to this concept 00:17:46.36\00:17:48.46 that so many people really aren't disciples. 00:17:48.49\00:17:53.36 You know, most people think in terms of disciples 00:17:53.39\00:17:56.05 that they are gonna sit down and they are gonna 00:17:56.08\00:17:57.11 do some workbook or someone is gonna teach them 00:17:57.14\00:17:59.67 you know how to read the Bible 00:17:59.70\00:18:00.92 or something where we are seeing that 00:18:00.95\00:18:02.84 being a disciples following your rabbi 00:18:02.87\00:18:07.17 was really embedding yourself in their life 00:18:07.20\00:18:10.27 and allowing the rabbi to be able 00:18:10.30\00:18:12.92 to impart his life into you, 00:18:12.95\00:18:16.16 which is really what our rabbi is asking of us. 00:18:16.19\00:18:19.52 Is what Jesus is asking of us 00:18:19.55\00:18:21.67 that we walk in His dust, right 00:18:21.70\00:18:25.07 that He is able to impart 00:18:25.10\00:18:27.65 not just His knowledge of what the Bible says, 00:18:27.68\00:18:31.07 but His knowledge of how to live and to do as He did. 00:18:31.10\00:18:35.19 That's awesome. 00:18:35.22\00:18:36.25 And that was the essence of Jewish education 00:18:36.28\00:18:39.79 because rabbi's always trust 00:18:39.82\00:18:42.41 that Torah covers all aspects of life. 00:18:42.44\00:18:47.78 Interesting. 00:18:47.81\00:18:49.05 So, let's I want to ask you a question then, 00:18:49.08\00:18:51.95 so here we are talking about the greatest teacher, 00:18:51.98\00:18:54.68 the greatest rabbi that ever lived. 00:18:54.71\00:18:57.20 Right? 00:18:57.23\00:18:58.90 And somebody comes up to Him 00:18:58.93\00:19:01.93 and this is in the gospel narrative 00:19:01.96\00:19:04.92 comes up and says rabbi, what is the greatest. 00:19:04.95\00:19:09.68 He says of all the commandments 00:19:09.71\00:19:11.16 but what is greatest of all of the teachings? 00:19:11.19\00:19:13.42 Right? 00:19:13.45\00:19:14.76 Which would land me to ask the question 00:19:14.79\00:19:16.85 of all the things that Jesus teaches, 00:19:16.88\00:19:21.26 I think we have to look at 00:19:21.29\00:19:22.63 what He says as one of the most important things 00:19:22.66\00:19:26.86 that He brings out. 00:19:26.89\00:19:28.76 Well, it is interesting that-- 00:19:28.79\00:19:31.12 So let's tell them what it was that He said. 00:19:31.15\00:19:33.78 Well, first of all He quoted the two statements 00:19:33.81\00:19:38.51 from one is from the Book of Deuteronomy 00:19:38.54\00:19:41.29 which is the famous Jewish prayer "Shema" 00:19:41.32\00:19:45.30 Hear, Israel The Lord is your God, 00:19:45.33\00:19:48.03 the Lord is one and you shall love your Lord 00:19:48.06\00:19:51.81 the Lord your God with all your heart, 00:19:51.84\00:19:53.82 with all your mind, with all your strength. 00:19:53.85\00:19:55.93 Exactly. 00:19:55.96\00:19:56.99 And the second one is from Leviticus 19, 00:19:57.02\00:19:59.37 you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:19:59.40\00:20:02.85 And it is interesting that Sadducee, you know 00:20:02.88\00:20:06.57 Pharisee ask Him this question 00:20:06.60\00:20:09.53 and many people make erroneous conclusion 00:20:09.56\00:20:13.06 that this is how Jesus throws away 00:20:13.09\00:20:16.55 the Ten Commandments and replaces them with two. 00:20:16.58\00:20:19.48 Well, if you look at the famous for a sake teacher Hillel, 00:20:19.51\00:20:23.71 who lived three decades before Jesus. 00:20:23.74\00:20:26.67 It was the story how Hillel converted a Gentile 00:20:26.70\00:20:31.92 who asked him if he could teach him a Torah 00:20:31.95\00:20:34.90 while he stands on one leg, on one foot. 00:20:34.93\00:20:39.34 And Hillel converts him and says you know, 00:20:39.37\00:20:44.02 don't do to your neighbor 00:20:44.05\00:20:46.32 what you don't want to be done to yourself 00:20:46.35\00:20:48.71 this is the-- the essence of the Torah, 00:20:48.74\00:20:50.60 the rest is the common thing. 00:20:50.63\00:20:51.76 Now, go study. 00:20:51.79\00:20:52.82 Go study the Torah. Right. 00:20:52.85\00:20:55.15 It is interesting that the same question 00:20:55.18\00:20:59.55 arises in the Book of Luke 00:20:59.58\00:21:02.35 while in Matthew it is the Pharisee 00:21:02.38\00:21:06.62 who is trying to provoke Jesus 00:21:06.65\00:21:09.43 in Luke it is the Pharisee 00:21:09.46\00:21:11.78 who is asking it differently 00:21:11.81\00:21:14.31 and he says how do I get saved? 00:21:14.34\00:21:17.75 And what Jesus answers? 00:21:17.78\00:21:20.25 What does the Torah teach? 00:21:20.28\00:21:22.53 And the Pharisee says, 00:21:22.56\00:21:24.40 love God dear Lord with all your heart soul 00:21:24.43\00:21:27.59 and might and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:21:27.62\00:21:31.37 So it is a Pharisee who knows what the Torah teaches. 00:21:31.40\00:21:37.21 So you can see how close 00:21:37.24\00:21:41.53 Jesus was to what was taught 00:21:41.56\00:21:44.18 in--in the rabbinic circles. Yes. 00:21:44.21\00:21:48.53 He didn't invent something new, 00:21:48.56\00:21:50.99 he didn't nullify any commandments. 00:21:51.02\00:21:53.85 The Pharisees knew the same thing. 00:21:53.88\00:21:56.60 Yeah, if anything He in one statement 00:21:56.63\00:22:00.29 validates the most important part, 00:22:00.32\00:22:02.93 you know, to love God and love man. 00:22:02.96\00:22:06.69 And then everything else follows around and after that. 00:22:06.72\00:22:10.55 I have, you know, I have always seen that 00:22:10.58\00:22:12.51 and I thought, you know, Jesus hears one of those cases 00:22:12.54\00:22:14.92 where you are asked the question, 00:22:14.95\00:22:16.06 what is the greatest of all the commandments? 00:22:16.09\00:22:19.04 And, you know, 00:22:19.07\00:22:22.16 He had an opportunity here to say anything, right. 00:22:22.19\00:22:25.42 Right. 00:22:25.45\00:22:26.48 And look at what He says, you know, 00:22:26.51\00:22:29.23 He chooses doesn't talk about merry, 00:22:29.26\00:22:31.49 He doesn't talk about adultery. 00:22:31.52\00:22:33.30 He doesn't even really, I mean the thing 00:22:33.33\00:22:36.44 that may be surprises so many people is that 00:22:36.47\00:22:38.24 He doesn't say look the Sabbath is the most important thing. 00:22:38.27\00:22:41.77 Okay, not nullifying that but He takes the opportunity 00:22:41.80\00:22:45.42 to say to people look if you love God 00:22:45.45\00:22:48.24 with all your heart, soul and strength 00:22:48.27\00:22:49.72 with all that you are 00:22:49.75\00:22:51.38 and then you take that same love 00:22:51.41\00:22:52.93 and you love those people around you. 00:22:52.96\00:22:55.99 Okay, because Sasha, correct me if I'm wrong 00:22:56.02\00:22:58.93 but I think the concept extends beyond-- 00:22:58.96\00:23:03.20 beyond when it says love your neighbor as yourself, 00:23:03.23\00:23:05.86 this isn't just talking about, okay, love your best friend. 00:23:05.89\00:23:08.30 Yeah, exactly, that's why next question is Pharisee asks, 00:23:08.33\00:23:12.57 who is my neighbor and here is the illustration 00:23:12.60\00:23:15.73 in the parable of Samaritan that's your neighbor. 00:23:15.76\00:23:19.41 That's like if today some Israeli 00:23:19.44\00:23:23.16 who suffered from some terror attack 00:23:23.19\00:23:25.95 is now being told your neighbor is Palestinian whom you love. 00:23:25.98\00:23:30.13 That will blow many people's minds. 00:23:30.16\00:23:32.72 You know, but that's what Jesus was trying to teach 00:23:32.75\00:23:35.86 that love is the foundation of the Torah 00:23:35.89\00:23:40.60 and that's the essence of Jesus' teaching as a rabbi. 00:23:40.63\00:23:45.61 And isn't it interesting too that we hear this 00:23:45.64\00:23:48.69 and there is no way that we can turn away 00:23:48.72\00:23:50.78 and say well, the God of the Old Testament was one way 00:23:50.81\00:23:54.01 and Jesus brought something different. 00:23:54.05\00:23:56.33 Listen I hate to cut it short 00:23:56.36\00:23:58.33 but I have a song that I'd love to do. 00:23:58.36\00:24:01.77 It's called "Hallelujah B'Yeshua" 00:24:01.80\00:24:04.54 and if you will excuse me, we will do that. 00:24:04.57\00:24:08.87 All right. 00:24:08.90\00:24:09.93 It's hallelujah, actually it literally means 00:24:11.39\00:24:16.91 let us praise God. 00:24:16.94\00:24:21.34 And the B'Yeshua in Jesus. So, let us praise God in Jesus. 00:24:21.37\00:24:27.50 Amen. 00:24:27.53\00:24:28.56 Hallelujah b'Yeshua Ha Melech Yisrael 00:24:35.11\00:24:38.61 To the Lion of Judah We sing and praise 00:24:38.64\00:24:42.06 Hallelujah b'Yeshua Ha Melech Yisrael 00:24:42.09\00:24:45.62 Adonai Tzedkeynu He is our prince of Peace 00:24:45.65\00:24:52.41 Hallelujah b'Yeshua Ha Melech Yisrael 00:24:52.44\00:24:56.16 To the Lion of Judah Oh, we sing His praise 00:24:56.19\00:24:59.55 Hallelujah b'Yeshua The king of Israel 00:24:59.58\00:25:03.05 He is the Lord our righteousness 00:25:03.08\00:25:05.38 He is our prince of peace 00:25:05.41\00:25:10.39 Praise Him, He is worthy 00:25:10.42\00:25:17.38 Praise Him, Yeshua Ha Mashiach Ben David 00:25:17.41\00:25:24.15 Oh, praise Him, give Him glory 00:25:24.18\00:25:31.09 Oh, praise Him, 00:25:31.12\00:25:34.79 Yeshua Ha Mashiach son of David 00:25:34.82\00:25:40.14 Hallelujah b'Yeshua Ha Melech Yisrael 00:25:40.17\00:25:43.66 To the Lion of Judah Oh, we sing and praise 00:25:43.69\00:25:47.11 Hallelujah b'Yeshua Ha Melech Yisrael 00:25:47.14\00:25:50.66 Adonai Tzedkeynu Sasha Shalom 00:25:50.69\00:25:57.35 Oh, we Praise Him, 00:26:14.34\00:26:18.79 He is worthy 00:26:18.82\00:26:21.88 Let's Praise Him, 00:26:21.91\00:26:25.48 Yeshua Ha Mashiach Ben David 00:26:25.51\00:26:28.83 Oh, praise Him, 00:26:28.86\00:26:32.37 We'll give Him glory 00:26:32.40\00:26:35.88 Let's Praise Him, 00:26:35.91\00:26:39.54 Yeshua Ha Mashiach Ben David 00:26:39.57\00:26:42.75 Oh, praise Him, 00:26:42.78\00:26:46.41 He is worthy 00:26:46.44\00:26:49.72 Let's Praise Him, 00:26:49.75\00:26:53.35 Yeshua Ha Mashiach Ben David 00:26:53.38\00:26:57.02 Yeshua Ha Mashiach Adonai 00:26:57.05\00:27:00.65 Yeshua Ha Melech Yisrael 00:27:00.68\00:27:06.12 Praise Him, Jesus He is the king of Israel, 00:27:09.71\00:27:14.79 Jesus He is our rabbi. 00:27:14.82\00:27:16.73 He is the ultimate teacher and we are told that 00:27:16.76\00:27:21.15 we are to be His disciples but not only that 00:27:21.18\00:27:24.28 we are Rachel, to make disciples. 00:27:24.31\00:27:27.72 That means that we are to take what we learn 00:27:27.75\00:27:30.84 and we are to teach it and impart it to others. 00:27:30.87\00:27:33.77 We are not supposed to just sit on it 00:27:33.80\00:27:35.71 and hold and go wow, look at what I have learned. 00:27:35.74\00:27:38.11 We need to share it with a lost and hurting world. 00:27:38.14\00:27:41.26 So we hope that you have been blessed today 00:27:41.29\00:27:43.44 and as always, may the Lord bless you 00:27:43.47\00:27:45.43 and may He keep you 00:27:45.46\00:27:46.99 and may the Lord make His face to shine upon you 00:27:47.02\00:27:49.97 and be gracious to you. 00:27:50.00\00:27:51.60 May the Lord lift His countenance upon you 00:27:51.63\00:27:53.74 and bring you His peace. 00:27:53.77\00:27:55.53 Thank you and join us once again on Back to Our Roots. 00:27:55.56\00:27:59.67