In Your Everyday Going Make Disciples (Part 2 of 2)

IN THE DUST OF THE RABBI

“Sitting at the feet” is a Hebrew idiom to denote a student’s position while learning from the rabbi. Jesus normally sat down to teach his disciples and the crowds, (Matt 5:1-2)(Matt 13:2). Another phrase, “in the dust of the rabbi,” comes from the first century statement, “Let your house be a meeting place for the rabbis, and cover yourself in the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily.” To be in the dust of the rabbi was to have such a close relationship with the rabbi so as to have the dust of his steps fall on you. When following a rabbi, it was not uncommon for the disciple to step in the same footprint as the rabbi so that the disciple would experience what the rabbi was experiencing.

Disciples followed their rabbi wherever he went, even into the latrine. Why such fervency? Because the rabbi often recited a blessing thanking God for the proper functioning of his body and the disciples wanted to become like the rabbi in all aspects of life, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples,” (Luke 11:1). It is even reported by the Hebrew Sages of a disciple who hid under the bed of his rabbi, while his rabbi was having relations with his wife. When discovered and chastised, the disciple explained that he wanted to know the blessing recited at the conclusion of the act so that he might become like his rabbi in all aspects of life. This act was not condoned, but recorded to demonstrate the desired fervency of disciples.

The apostolic text does not record an incident like the one just described, but it does record the actions of a disciple who wanted to be just like his master. When Jesus passed by his disciples walking on the water, Peter asked the Lord to command him to leave the boat and to do the same. Jesus called out to Peter, “Come,” and Peter left the boat and began to walk on the water, just like Jesus. We all know the rest of the story. Peter was not just like his rabbi in all aspects and he began to sink until Jesus reached out and saved him. Rather than criticize Peter, we need to applaud his effort. Peter wanted to be just like Jesus and we should desire the same. In the end, Peter did die at the hands of the Roman on a cross just like the Master, although tradition has Peter being crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the identical manner as Jesus.

The type of dedication a disciple had for his rabbi might require him to leave his home, his family and his wife, although he needed permission from the latter for extended departures. The example of this dedication is found in the relationship of the teacher Elijah and the student Elisha. The Bible tells us that when Elijah found Elisha he was plowing with twelve pair of oxen, (1 Kings 19:16).

“He (Elisha) left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, ‘Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.’ And he said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you?’ So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him,” (1 Kings 19:20-21).

Elijah seemed puzzled that Elisha wanted to return and say good-bye to his parents. But Elisha demonstrated his dedication by sacrificing his oxen so there could be no turning back. This story may be alluded to by Jesus when he said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God,” (Luke 9:62). In the case of Elisha, he did not return to the plow, but followed Elijah wherever he went.

We see the dedication of Elisha to Elijah in the story of Elijah’s departure. If he had not been dedicated, we might never have had this account in scripture.

“Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went to Jericho…Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them walked on…When they had crossed (the Jordan River), Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?’ ‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,’ Elisha replied. ‘You have asked a difficult thing,’ Elijah said, ‘yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise not.’ As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, ‘My father! My father! And Elisha saw him not more.” (2 Kings 2:4-12)

The dedication of Elisha to follow Elijah wherever he went is an example of the dedication a disciple of Jesus should have for the Master. A rabbi is loved by each disciple and placed in priority above his parents, as a popular saying from the Talmud goes, “the parent only brings the child to the life of this world, whereas the teacher brings him to the life of the World to Come,” (BM 2:2). Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple,” (Luke 14:26). The terms “love” and “hate” are often used as Hebrew idioms to denote priority. Matthew records the same concept, but in words we more easily understand, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me,” (Matt 10:37).

Peter testified to the sacrifice of following Jesus when he said, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matt 19:27). “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.’” (Matt 19:28-29). Leaving houses, family, and even fields is what Elisha did to follow Elijah. It is also what Abraham did when the LORD called him to “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you,” (Gen 12:1). Elijah received twice the Spirit of Elijah and Abraham received the covenant and blessings from God for his faithfulness.

In the epistles, Paul taught the churches he established exhorting them as disciples to “be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ,” (1 Cor 11:1). In particular, Timothy is seen as a disciple of Paul (Acts 15:1), who accompanied Paul on many of his journeys, and to whom Paul referred to as “my true son in the faith,” (1 Tim 1:2)(2 Tim 1:2). It is to Timothy, and not to a church that Paul writes his last epistle that is preserved in scripture.

THE TEACHING MOMENT

A popular term with parents is the phrase, “teaching moment.” This term implies that no opportunity should be passed over which can produce a lasting lesson in our children. For the Rabbis, this was the standard operating practice. Rabbis were rarely confined to the classroom, but used everyday life experiences as the background for the opportunity to teach. Many of the lessons taught by Jesus probably originated from daily events witnessed by the disciples. One day when Jesus was leaving the temple, his disciples commented on the magnificence of the temple buildings. Jesus took the opportunity to tell his disciples, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down,” (Matt 24:2).

At other times, Jesus took his disciples to specific locations to teach such as the time he went to Caesarea Philippi to confront the “gates of hades” and teach his disciples that his kingdom will overcome even the strongholds of the enemy. At other times, the backdrop of the seaside town of Caperanum provided the opportunity to make his disciples “fishers of men,” (Mark 1:17). One of the products of Capernaum was the production of basalt stones used in the grinding of wheat and barley into flour. Basalt was harder than other stones found in Israel reducing the amount of the stone that ended up in the flour. When Jesus talked about a millstone being hung around the neck of a person who caused a little one to stumble, he probably pointed to a nearby grinding stone and then to the Sea of Galilee as he said, “it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck; and to be drowned in the depth of the sea,” (Matt 18:6).

The ability of disciples to learn was classified by the rabbis as falling into one of four categories.

“He who quickly understands and quickly forgets, his gain disappears in his loss; he who understands with difficulty and forgets with difficulty, his loss disappears in his gain; he who understand quickly and forgets with difficulty, his is a good portion; he who understands with difficulty and forgets quickly, his is an evil portion,” (Aboth 5:15).

The best disciple is the one who learns quickly and forgets with great difficulty, while the inverse is the worst disciple; the one learns with difficulty and then forgets quickly. James said it this way, “But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God,” (James 1:19).

The rabbis also classified their disciples based on a disciple’s ability to receive and process the teachings of the rabbis. A disciple was said to be either a sponge, a funnel, a strainer, or a sieve.

“There are four qualities among those that sit before the Sages: they are like a sponge, a funnel, a strainer, and a sieve: a sponge, which sucks up everything; a funnel, which lets in at one end and out at the other; a strainer which lets the wine pass out and retains the lees; a sieve, which lets out the bran and retains the flour,” (Aboth 5:18).

The desired disciple is like a sieve that retains the good teaching (flour), while letting out the bad (bran). The sponge absorbs all, the bad as well as the good. The funnel lets all pass through retaining none of the rabbis’ teaching. The strainer lets the good wine pass out, while retaining only the bad. Paul said it this way, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world,” (1 John 4:1). Breaking down into four categories was a common practice of classification by the rabbis to reflect the spectrum from the good to the bad. Jesus used this approach when he spoke of the four types of ground that received the seed of the sower, (Matt 13:3-9 & 18-23).

At the completion of his training, a disciple was expected to be an exact copy of the master, able to walk and teach as the master had done. Discipleship is not about information, it is about transformation, the molding of a life into the exact pattern of the teacher. Years later, long after the original rabbi was gone, people could come to understand who the rabbi was based on the actions and teachings of his disciples, as it is written, “Everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher,” (Luke 6:40). If the disciples were not faithful to the original teachings of their master, they effectively perverted the image of their rabbi. When the lives of believers who call themselves disciples of Jesus do not accurately reflect the teachings of the master, they bring dishonor and scorn instead of glory and praise to the one who came to redeem mankind.

After a rabbi had completed training his disciples, he would turn to them and say, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” (Matt 28:20). The Great Commission is not simply a call to add sheep to the sheep pen, but a command to make disciples into the pattern of the Master, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt 28:20). This commandment is the responsibility of all disciples, not just those in some distant land. In every disciple’s daily walk, make disciples of all nations.

Scott

In Your Everyday Going Make Disciples (Part 1 of 2)

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:19-20)

The above passage is often read to emphasize the need for believers to carry the gospel to all nations or the call for every believer to be baptized. While both aspects are fundamental to the Christian faith, the original Greek imperative emphasizes neither baptism nor the call to go to all nations. More than anything else, this statement of Jesus is calling all believers to make disciples in our daily walk. A more accurate rendering of the passage might read, “in your going, make disciples of all nations.” The responsibility of making disciples is not delegated to the few. Every believer must “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have,” (1 Pet 3:15). According to the Talmud, “Who teaches Torah to the son of his fellow-man has it ascribed to him as though he had begotten him,” (Sanh 19b).

Believers are called to become disciples and to make disciples, but most believers have no idea of what discipleship means. Like many concepts in the Bible, the term disciple has been watered down in our culture to the point where it means a part time student or novice, and not the biblical life changing call of dedication to walk as Jesus did in all aspects of life. The goal of discipleship is best defined by Jesus, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master,” (Matt 10:24-25). The goal of discipleship is to become like the teacher in all aspects of life, “to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6), and to teach others to become like us after we have become like Jesus. Paul told his followers, “I pray that not only you but all who are listening become what I am,” (Acts 26:29). Paul could only make this statement as he became transformed into the pattern of Jesus.

The concept of disciples is not unique to the ministry of Jesus. Most rabbis in the first century had disciples, (Mark 2:18), in Hebrew called “talmidim” or “talmid” for a single disciple. John had disciples that left him to become disciples of Jesus, (John 1:37)(Acts 19:1-7). Some of the early conflicts in the ministry of Jesus were actually disputes arising between the disciples of Jesus and the disciples of John. The disciples of John were concerned that Jesus was becoming more popular that John, (John 3:25-26). It was the disciples of John who asked Jesus, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (Matt 9:14). When scripture speaks of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioning Jesus, it was probably the disciples of other rabbis who did the questioning.

By the beginning of the first century, the rabbi/disciple model of teaching was highly developed from centuries of refinement. When Ezra and the men of the Great Assembly began returning to the land of Israel around 500 BC, they sought to instill a method of teaching that would protect the hearts of the people from turning back to idolatry. What they did is detailed elsewhere, but summarized by three overriding principles that they gave to those who followed after them:

• Be deliberate in judging,
• Raise up many disciples, and
• Make a hedge for the Torah.

The call to “raise up many disciples” is a principle that most believers recognize in the earthly ministry of Jesus.

THE FIRST CENTURY HEBREW EDUCATION SYSTEM

Discipleship was a natural extension of the education system of first century Israel that sought to infuse knowledge of the Torah into every individual so that the name of God would be remembered; “Where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you,” (Ex 20:24). In the words of Boaz Cohen, “To study the inspired Writings, to meditate upon them, to extract from them all they could be made to produce was, accordingly, the chief privilege…the greatest duty of the Jew.” (Everyman’s Talmud, page 125). The study of God’s word is more than an intellectual pursuit, study brings life, as the common saying goes, “The more Torah the more life.” This concept carries into the apostolic text where John referred to scripture as the “Word of life,” (1 John 1:1), and Jesus said, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life,” (John 5:24). The pursuit of understanding scripture is a lifelong journey. In the words of the Talmud,

“Turn it (the Torah) and turn it over again, for everything is in it; and contemplate it, and wax grey and old over it; and stir not from it. You can have no better rule than this.”

When a Hebrew child was five years old, they began to memorize the scripture. This may have occurred in the home or possibly in a Yeshiva (school), adjacent to or part the local synagogue. Girls generally learned the Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy. Boys memorized all scripture beginning with the Book of Leviticus as it is written, “Since the children are pure and the sacrifices are pure, let the pure come and occupy themselves with things that are pure,” (Lev R 7:3). Scripture memorization was important for two reasons. From a practical standpoint, most towns could only afford a single copy of scripture that was kept at the synagogue. For this reason, the public reading of scripture was fundamental to the teaching of individuals who otherwise had no access to scripture, (1 Tim 4:3). Further, since chapter and verse notation did not exist until the Middle Ages, scripture references where given by reciting the first few words or sentences of the intended passage. The listener had to be familiar with the passage being quoted to gain the deeper understanding of the principle message being taught.

The typical method of quoting only a portion of scripture is used in the apostolic text. Often the Hebrew text being quoted is just a partial reference and the reader is expected to be familiar with the greater content of the passage. The reader who does not know scripture will miss many of the deeper truths being taught. In the present age, we have the luxury of looking up the quoted passage. Although convenient, chapter and verses references remove the responsibility of the reader to be familiar with the context of the passage. In the first century, the listener had to be able to fill in the blanks by memory or he would miss a significant portion of the rabbis’ teaching.

Memorizing scripture also molded the believer into a life of obedience to the commandments, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you,” (Psa 119:11). The Sages summarized the importance of knowing scripture in order to put scripture into practice.

“Where there is no Torah, there are no manners; where there are no manners, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; where there is no fear of God; there is no wisdom. Where there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge. Where there is no meal, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no meal,” (Everyman’s Talmud, page 128).

Around the age of ten, boys began to the study the Mishnah, the Oral Traditions of the Rabbis first handed down to Moses at Mount Sinai. Somewhere between the age twelve and fifteen, the student entered the Beit Midrash (House of Interpretation) to study the rabbinic commentary on the Bible and Oral Traditions (Gemara). The Hebrew Talmud is the combination of both the Mishnah (Oral Traditions) and the Gemara (Rabbini Interpretations). For the average student, his formal education was complete around the age of fifteen and he began to learn an occupation, while the average girl became eligible for marriage sometime around this age. The fact that Jesus found most of his disciples already pursuing worldly occupations, tells us something about their ability as students. The disciples of Jesus were not exceptional scholars, they were “uneducated and untrained men,” (Acts 4:13), who had given up their educational pursuits to learn a profession until they met Jesus.

The few students who were blessed to have an exceptional ability to memorize scripture and learn the related oral teachings sought out a fulltime teacher (rabbi) to further their study of the Torah. The more prestigious the rabbi, the more difficult it was for a student to find acceptance “sitting at the feet” (Luke 8:35), a Hebrew idiom for studying under a great scholar. Paul stated that he was, “brought up…at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers,” (Acts 22:3, KJV). Since the student became a reflection of the teacher, the rabbi only sought out individuals who were in the image of the teacher possessing the greatest ability to learn and the best demeanor to teach others.

Somewhat analogous to applying to a prestigious university, only the best found acceptance, while the remaining were saddled with rejection. Many of Jesus disciples were not seeking him because they felt intellectually inferior or spiritually inadequate; after all they were called tax collectors, sinners, and fisherman. Jesus called his disciples, contrary to the normal process, and later reminded them “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last,” (John 15:16). In choosing his disciples, Jesus was conveying their sufficiency or more likely, the ability of Jesus to overcome their insufficiency. To a group of individuals who had been rejected and come to terms with their rejection, their acceptance by a rabbi who had already performed several miracles must have seemed like a miracle in itself. Yet the same statement is made about all believers, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him,” (Eph 1:5). Jesus chose us because he knew we could be just like him, “holy and blameless.”

NOT YOUR TYPICAL DISCIPLES

Why did Jesus choose those men and women he did to be his disciples? These individuals were probably not gifted with the greatest natural abilities. Men who had been gifted studied under the greatest rabbis of their day like Gamaliel the Elder. Paul was his disciple, but Jesus did not initially choose Paul and we might wonder why not? Paul was actually handicapped by being too studied, too indoctrinated in the ways of the Pharisees, unable to be retrained in the wisdom of Jesus. Even after Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, it took an additional seventeen years in the desert to retrain Paul’s thinking. Jesus did not have seventeen years to teach, he only had three and one-half years. He did not have time to retrain, only time to train. Jesus needed disciples who had not been preprogrammed in the dogma of the day.

There were probably many individuals trained in the Yeshivas of the Pharisees who wanted to learn under Jesus, but these were rejected. When asked why his disciples did not follow the traditions of the other rabbis, Jesus responded by telling a parable.

"No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'" (Luke 5:36-39)

In this parable, Jesus is equating the dogmatic teaching of some Pharisees to the old wine, while his teaching is the new wine. People who have been indoctrinated into a certain way of thinking do not easily gravitate to a new teaching even when the new teaching is closer to the original truth. The modern vernacular for this phenomenon might be expressed in the saying, “you can not teach an old dog new tricks.” The rabbis of Jesus day told held a similar view.

“Elisha ben Avuyah said, ‘He who studies as a child, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to ink written upon a fresh sheet of paper. But he who studies as an adult, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to ink written on a smudged (previously used and erased) sheet of paper.’” (m.Avot 4:25)

In the words recorded by Luke (Luke 5:36-39), Jesus is not arguing against the words of Torah spoken by the mouth of God or demonstrating the supremacy of grace over the Law. Jesus argues the limitations of those already indoctrinated in the interpretations of men (old wineskins) because they often do not accept the original intent behind the word, “but from the beginning it has not been this way,” (Matt 19:8). Because the apostles were largely “uneducated and untrained men,” (Acts 4:13), they were not burdened with the existing dogma of their day. They were fresh sheets of paper, blank pages, if you will, that the Master could write on and the disciples would receive. The great news is that you and I can also be fresh sheets of paper for Jesus to write on if we do not hold fast to the religious dogma of this world.

The disciples of Jesus were probably a mixture of younger and older men. Younger men had the advantage of being fresh sheets of paper with fewer preconceived notions and did not yet have the obligations of family and work. “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” (Mark 10:14). Most disciples of rabbis began their study around the age of fifteen and would potentially study until they reached the age of thirty. By that age, a disciple would be sufficiently learned to become rabbis himself capable of teaching his own set of disciples, “Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry,” (Luke 3:23).

Unfortunately, Jesus did not have fifteen years to teach his disciples. He was only among them in the flesh for a little more than three years. This necessitated the need to have older disciples capable of teaching after the departure of the Master. Although we do not know the specific ages of the disciples, Peter was at least old enough to have a wife and pay the temple tax (Matt 17:24-27), which was required of every Hebrew male living in Israel who was twenty years and older, (Ex 30:13).

Although we generally think of disciples as being male, a few first century rabbis allowed women to be disciples, including Jesus. Mary was said to be “seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word” (Luke 10:39). Some of the women who followed Jesus were major supporters of his ministry. Luke tells us, “The Twelve were with him, and also some women…Mary (called Magdalene)…Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means,” (Luke 8:1-3).

Scott (to be continued...)