Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi with Jewish disciples in a 1st generation Jewish world. Jesus grew up in Galilee and people there believed God spoke and gave Moses the first 5 books of the Bible, the Torah, meaning teaching or instructions to live by. The Torah was the center of their lives including their educational system. From age 6-10 little kids would attend the local synagogue working through Bates Affair, the first level of education taught by the local Rabbi. These little kids, if they stuck with it, would finish Bates Affair having memorized all of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
By age 10 most kids were doing an apprenticeship to learn the family trade, but the best of the best went on to Bates Talmud, the next level, where they would memorize the rest of Hebrew scripture encompassing Genesis-Malachi (the entire Old Testament….wow!).
At age 14 or 15 those who had not dropped out yet, the best of the best of the best, would continue on to Bate Midrash. Here they would apply to a Rabbi to be their disciple. When a student applies for a Rabbi to be their disciple they don’t want to just know what the Rabbi knows, they want to be like the Rabbi. Each Rabbi would grill the kids and choose only the best of the best. If you were chosen you would leave everything you knew- friends, families, villages, synagogues, and go do what your Rabbi does.
When we see Jesus going to Peter and Andrew he says, “Come follow me.” The Bible says Peter and Andrew are fishermen….which means they don’t have a Rabbi….which means they aren’t the best of the best. What is Jesus really saying to them? He is saying, “I believe you can be like me. You can do what I do.” Jesus says the same thing when he comes along James and John who are fishing with their dad (family trade). He calls them to be his disciples and they change the course of human history.
My favorite story is when Peter walks on water. There are so many aspects of this story I find intriguing. Peter sees his Rabbi walking on water so he wants to walk on water too. Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking towards Jesus when the waves pick up and Peter starts to sink. He calls out to Jesus and Jesus saves him saying, “You of little faith.”
Now this is important….
I’ve heard countless sermons and even thought myself for a while of how Peter should not have doubted Jesus- keep your eyes on Jesus son and have faith in him, but this is interesting….Jesus isn’t sinking. Who does Peter doubt? He doubts himself. He loses faith in himself that he can actually be like his Rabbi, but Jesus reminded them he chose them. You don’t choose your Rabbi, your Rabbi chooses you.
Faith in Jesus is important but what about Jesus’ faith in us? What did Jesus do when he left the earth? He told them to go and make more disciples. He left it in the hands of these anybodies, and they do it!!
What if we can actually be the kind of people God created us to be? What if he actually believes we can be the kind of people who live like Jesus lived? He does believe it! Do you? I hope you believe you in God, and I hope you also come to see God believes in you. I hope you have faith in Jesus, and I hope you also come to see Jesus has faith you can be like him- a person of love, compassion, and truth, a person of peace, forgiveness, joy, and hope.
This is a part of something pretty incredible God has been teaching me pre-Race and in my life currently. I’ll continue to open those parts up to you in blogs to come. Thanks for reading and thank you for your continued support! All of us Racers in I-Squad (my squad) have to be fully funded by March 1st to continue this incredible journey. If you feel lead to support please click on the link on the sidebar and as always thanks for reading!
*Credit to Rob Bell from his Nooma video series
