Tag Archives: rabbi

LION OR LAMB?

Bible Study, ,

LION OR LAMB?

“The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’

“When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi (which means “Teacher”), ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come,’ He replied, ‘and you will see.’ So. they went and saw where He was staying, and they spent that day with Him. It was about four in the afternoon.” John 1:35-39 (NIV).

Jesus rated John the Baptist the greatest of all the prophets. Why? He was not like Isaiah, for instance, who was a member of the royal family and whose long ministry lasted through the reigns of four kings. Isaiah was the prince of prophets in the Old Testament era. He had insights into the nature and ministry of the Messiah like no other prophet. After all, didn’t he write the most profound and sublime chapter in the Old Testament — Isaiah 53? But John was greater.

Why was John such a great man? His ministry lasted no more than six months before he was incarcerated and then beheaded. I believe his greatness lay in the way he fulfilled his assignment. What was his assignment? He was to prepare the way for and introduce the Messiah to Israel. It was not so much what he did but the way he did it that marked him out as a truly great man.

In response to the constant squabbling of His disciples over who would be the greatest, Jesus taught them what true greatness was all about. They thought that greatness was about being the most important and the most visible person in the pecking order. James and John even asked for positions at His elbows in His kingdom! Imagine that!

Jesus was quick to point out that it was they, not He, who determined their greatness. If they were prepared to stoop down to the level of the lowliest in society, a little child, and lift him up, they would be truly great. Humility, and the behaviour it produces, is the way to greatness.

How did John the Baptist measure up to Jesus’ criterion?

When the Pharisees interrogated him, he was quick to point out that he was no more than a voice. He could have claimed to be Elijah come back from the dead, a great prophet who had ministered during a time of apostasy in Israel and who had done amazing miracles – stopping the rain, bringing on the rain and even raising a dead child on one occasion. Jesus identified John as the fulfilment of God’s promise to send Elijah ahead of the Messiah but John made no such claim for himself.

John had the heart of a servant. His fiery preaching was not to humiliate but to call people back to God. When they responded, he spent time encouraging and teaching them about God’s kingdom.

He never lost an opportunity to point people to Jesus as the Lamb of God. Whenever he saw Jesus, he declared, ‘There is God’s Lamb!’ John, unlike Jesus’ own disciples, had grasped the real mission of the Messiah.

The disciples were anticipating a stand-off with the Romans, their humiliating defeat and an era of glorious freedom for Israel under their new ruler, Jesus. The miracles He did confirmed their notion that He would restore Israel to the former glory it enjoyed under their great king, David, when everyone lived in safety and in plenty under his merciful and benevolent rule.

John, on the other hand, kept insisting that Jesus was God’s Lamb, not God’s Lion, at least not yet.  He was not in any way resentful when some of his disciples left him to follow Jesus. That was his purpose, to point people to Jesus and to introduce Him to the world as God’s sacrifice for sin.

John was faithful to his calling. He had no other purpose in life but to ensure that everyone he encountered knew who Jesus was. He was consumed with the passion to prepare the way so that, when Jesus arrived on the scene, people would recognise and follow Him.

This story speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Imitators Of Jesus

Christian Life, , , ,

IMITATORS OF JESUS

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5: 1)

The third step in being a disciple of Jesus is imitating Him in everything He was and did. Disciples were taught to walk behind their master, one behind the other so that they could watch the person in front of them. The one who walked behind the rabbi was to copy everything he did.  Each one was to copy the one in front so that they would all end up copying their rabbi.

It was the privilege of the disciple who walked directly behind his rabbi to be covered with the dust which the rabbi’s sandals kicked up as he walked. This was a sign of his privileged position. It was considered a blessing to wear the rabbi’s dust.

On one occasion Jesus sent His disciples out to the villages round about to preach the good news of the kingdom and the do the works of the kingdom in preparation for His arrival in that region. If a village or a household refused to receive them, they were to shake the dust off their feet and move on without protest. What was He saying?

We interpret His instruction from our purely human mindset. Shake the dust – i.e., thumb your nose at them as a sign of contempt. Does that sound like the way Jesus would react, Jesus – the one who always looked for an opportunity to show mercy? If the rabbi’s dust which they wore was a sign of His blessing, wouldn’t it be true to say that He instructed them to leave His blessing on those who rejected Him by shaking off the dust of their feet even if they refused His message?

Jesus used the rabbi/disciple model to train His disciples to be like Him. Mark recorded His strategy like this:

He appointed twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have the authority to drive out demons (Mark 3:14).

“That they might be with Him” was the first part of their training – following and learning. They were to watch and listen, absorbing everything they could about their rabbi, not only just learning to teach what He taught but actually becoming what He was – a true son of the Father in every sense of the word.

Jesus took every opportunity to teach them about the Father and to model a true son. They were not just to be wooden puppets, moving when He pulled the strings. They were to absorb everything about Him including His attitude and disposition. When James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans for refusing them hospitality, Jesus sharply rebuked them.

…James and John…asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them. But Jesus turned and rebuked them.  And He said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9.54-55)

He told them more than once:

If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world (John 12: 47).

Jesus both taught and showed His disciples that His disposition towards His people was compassion and mercy. He wept over the city of Jerusalem for not recognising Him and for rejecting their opportunity to respond to His invitation to return to the Father and to be a part of His eternal kingdom.

Imitation Jesus is not just a mechanical copying of what He said and did. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promised that He would send His Spirit who would change their hearts (Ez. 36:26-27). He fulfilled His promise on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on all the waiting believers. Peter responded to the confusion in Jerusalem by reminding the people of the same promise in the prophecy of Joel.

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days (Joel 2:28-29).

The same Spirit who empowered Jesus would indwell them. Unlike all the other rabbis who could teach and train their disciples but could not impart their heart and disposition to them, Jesus promised that the very same Spirit that fell on Him would fall on them. He would live within them as Jesus’ other self, and mould them into His image as they followed and learned from Him.

It was His intention to produce replicas of Himself, empowered by the same Spirit, carrying the same authority to do the same works and even more (John 14:12) through Him, so that they would extend the kingdom of God wherever they went.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Thunder In The Desert!

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THUNDER IN THE DESERT!

“In the fifteenth year of the rule of Caesar Tiberius — it was while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea; Herod, ruler of Galilee; his brother Philip, ruler of Ituraea and Trachonitis; Lysania, ruler of Abilene; during the Chief-Priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, John, Zachariah’s son, out in the desert at the time, received a message from God. He went through all the country around Jordan River preaching a baptism of life-change leading to forgiveness of sins, as described in the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“Thunder in the desert!

‘Prepare God’s arrival!

Make the road smooth and straight!

Every ditch will be filled in,

Every bump smoothed out,

The detours straightened out,

All the ruts paved over,

Everyone will be there to see

The parade of God’s salvation.'” Luke 3:1-6 (The Message).

It was now some thirty years later. Luke was careful to pinpoint the exact time in history, all verifiable facts if one has the historical records to go by. After all, he did assure Theophilus that he had carefully researched his material before presenting it to him.

What was John doing during the formative years of childhood and youth? We have only a few clues to help us guess. In his prophetic outburst, Zachariah revealed that he had fully embraced his son’s destiny — prophet of the Highest. He no doubt schooled his little son in the Word and ways of God until John was old enough to attend the Beth Saphar, elementary school where he was taught the Torah – the Teachings of the Lord contained in the Books of Moses.

By the age of twelve, the time of his initiation into manhood, he could recite and knew the meaning of all the words of the Torah. Having passed that phase, he would have gone to Jerusalem for his tertiary education at the Beth Talmid – discipleship school. There he would have been instructed by an authoritative rabbi, probably Hillel who was also Paul’s teacher. Who knows but that John and Paul might have been in class together!

Tertiary education covered the entire Old Testament which John could recite by the age of thirty. He was now qualified to be a rabbi – a teacher – and one who was authorised to have his own band of disciples because his authority had been recognised and confirmed. We know that because only a rabbi with authority was permitted to have his own followers and John was making and baptising men who were his disciples (John 4:1). He was also addressed as “rabbi” by his followers (John 3:26).

It seems that, after he completed his education at rabbi school and before he began to prophesy, he spent time alone in the wilderness. So did Jesus! What was he doing? I think he was thinking deeply about everything he had learned at rabbi school. He needed to know where he fitted in to the scheme of things. He had heard from his dad often enough the story of his conception and what the angel had told his father about him. Where did he go from there?

Is there a lesson in that for us? How often a young person hears the call of the Lord to “full-time service” (as if being a follower of Jesus isn’t a full-time occupation!), and follows the prescribed ritual; Bible School, then apply to a missionary society; wait to be accepted; deputation work to announce yourself and garner financial support; oh! and prayer, and then off you go to the foreign field to teach the heathen about Jesus.

What did John do? Apparently something quite similar, really; rabbi school, no “missionary society”, only time alone with God. Wait, listen, follow, obey. John’s entire ministry of six months! was encapsulated in these four little words, “Thunder in the desert”. A huge flash of light and then he was gone. Was that what he expected? Probably not but it was God’s purpose for him to light the way for Messiah and he did it!

He earned from Jesus the title, ‘The greatest of all the prophets!” Six months? Yes!

Show Us Your Credentials

Christian Life, , , ,

SHOW US YOUR CREDENTIALS

“One day He was teaching the people in the Temple, proclaiming the Message. The high priests, religion scholars and leaders confronted Him and demanded, ‘Show us your credentials. Who authorised you to speak and act like this?’

“Jesus answered, ‘First let me ask you a question. About the baptism of John — who authorised it, heaven or humans?’

“They were on the spot, and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, ‘If we say ‘heaven’, He’ll ask us why we didn’t believe Him; if we say ‘humans’, the people will tear us limb from limb, convinced as they are that John was God’s prophet.’ They agreed to concede that round to Jesus and said they didn’t know.

“Jesus said, ‘Then neither will I answer your question.'” Luke 20:1-8 (The Message).

Jesus was smart. He knew that the religious leaders had no interest in the answer to their question other than to use it against Him. They were building their case against Him and the answer to this question was an important weapon in their arsenal.

Jesus was a rabbi with authority, which meant that He had the right to determine how He would interpret the Torah and how He would apply His interpretation in His own life and teaching. This was called His ‘yoke’ and was binding upon His disciples as well; they were obligated to wear His yoke and to ‘bind’ in on their followers, loosing them from the yoke of any other rabbi. Any deviation or addition meant that they were automatically disqualified from being His disciples.

Since Jesus had the supreme authorisation of His Father and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, (“When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. And as He was praying, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'” Luke 3:21, 22. NIV), His yoke carried more authority than the yoke of any other rabbi.

The religious leaders were following the yoke of the chief rabbis of their day, which was in conflict with Jesus’ yoke. They strictly and rigidly stuck to the Law of God, and the many additions made by their religious authorities through the years, which distorted the character of God until He was unrecognisable as the God of their fathers. The God who had revealed Himself to Moses as “gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving sin…” Exodus 34:6, was buried under a terrible weight of do’s and don’ts which effectively made the people slaves of religion.

Jesus came to reveal the true nature of the Father and to set His people free from the terrible yoke of legalism. No wonder He earnestly extended His invitation to His harassed people, “‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.'” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV).

Since Jesus came to reveal the heart of a loving and compassionate Father, it was inevitable that He would clash with the religious leaders because they held the power over the people and would not easily relinquish it to the likes of Jesus who continually humiliated them by the way He applied His yoke of mercy and compassion to suffering people. Like all false religions, they ruled the people by the fear of punishment and hated the exposure of their own wicked hearts.

Jesus was always one step ahead. Instead of answering their question as they wanted Him to, which would have been, for them, an admission of blasphemy, He asked them a question, ‘Who gave John his authority?’ Their response would incriminate them, one way or the other. To admit that John was a prophet of God would expose their guilt because they refused to acknowledge or believe him, and he had come to introduce Jesus as Messiah! To deny his heavenly calling would be to admit their guilt and risk the loss of their power over the people.

The very fact that Jesus lived and acted in harmony with God’s revelation of Himself in the Torah was proof enough that His credentials were impeccable – He was the living embodiment of the Father and the religious leaders could not fault Him. In fact, they had no answer to His challenge, ‘Who of you convinces me of sin?’

They had trapped themselves and they had to concede defeat.

Give God What is His

Christian Life, , , ,

GIVE GOD WHAT IS HIS

“Watching for a chance to get Him, they sent spies who posed as honest enquirers, hoping they could trick Him into saying something that would get Him in trouble with the law. So they asked Him,…’Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’

“He knew they were laying for Him and said, ‘Show me a coin. Now this engraving, who does it look like and what does it say?’

“‘Caesar,’ they said.

“Jesus said, ‘Then give Caesar what is his and give God what is His.’

Try as they might, they couldn’t trap Him into saying anything incriminating. His answer caught them off guard and left them speechless.” Luke 20:20-26 (The Message)

Got them again!

Jesus was no push-over. These so-called ‘spiritual’ men had still not learned not to mess with Him. They always came off second best. This time it was about taxes. The Jewish people chafed at their Roman overlords’ taxation on top of the tithes, offerings and temple taxes they had to pay. It was a heavy burden on them and brought many of them into poverty.

But there was a more sinister issue at stake. Jesus was a rabbi with authority which meant that His disciples were obliged to copy everything He said and did. What He said about paying taxes would reveal His heart attitude to the Roman government which He would pass on to His disciples with possible serious results.

If He showed any antagonism towards Rome, He would be suspected of treason. His opponents were trying to catch him off guard so that He would unwittingly incriminate Himself and open Himself to arrest by the Roman soldiers.

But Jesus was too smart to be caught out. His response was not a spur-of-the-moment reaction. He was not only on guard; He was also well-prepared because of His complete understanding of God’s kingdom and how to live in it in the earthly environment. In every situation He faced as an earthling, He viewed His life from God’s perspective and taught His disciples to do the same.

Unlike us, who easily forget God, He lived His life with His Father in the centre. Everything He thought and did came out of His union with the Father. His answer to their question gives us insight into the way we should live in the kingdom of God so that we best represent Him in an ungodly environment.

In His high-priestly prayer He put in a nutshell what our attitude should be to the world system in which we live. “‘My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.'” John 17:15-16 (NIV).

As long as we live in the world, we are subject to the systems humans have put in place, including submission to earthly government, and God expects us to fulfil our obligations as unto Him. However, we have a different disposition from the people of the world, the nature and presence of God infused into us by the Holy Spirit. Not to be ‘of the world’ implies that we bring the disposition of Jesus into the way we live.

He showed us how by the way He honoured and respected all people, treating them with compassion and generosity and revealing the love of the Father by His loving and caring attitude.

To ‘give to Caesar’ implied civil obedience while to ‘give to God’ meant not only submitting to His supreme authority over everything, but also living in such a way that we make ‘up there’ come ‘down here’. We are, first and foremost, representatives of the way God runs things, and that includes loyally submitting to the government in everything that does not clash with God’s kingdom and His ways.