2. Getting To Know The Lord (Our Rabbi)

Getting To Know Jesus

In my most previous blog post, I talked about the concept of a disciple and taking on a rabbi's "yoke." This yoke, in the Jewish tradition, was a rabbi's very way of being: his way of  thinking, acting, seeing the world, etc.

In order to take on the rabbi's yoke the disciple had to get to know the rabbi. Thus, when you accept Our Lord's invitation to become his disciple YOU ARE SAYING that you will follow Him by coming to know Him as best you can (this is a continuous process) in order to imitate Him to the FULLEST --> in order to live like Him and to take on His worldview WITHOUT RESERVE. 

Which leads to the following question...

How do you come to know another person? 

Answer: Through their words and deeds. 

The most direct place where we can find an account of Our Lord's words and deeds is in Scripture. But this doesn't simply mean sitting down and interpreting Christ's words and deeds as you see fit or find convenient. 

In order to get to know a person you need to have a common language and understanding. 

This is what I want to talk about in this blog post: overcoming barriers to true knowledge of and a relationship with Our Lord.

~*~

Barriers: A Lack Of Cultural Structural Understanding

Here is what I consider to be one of the greatest barriers in our day and age:

To understand a person and what they are saying we need to understand context.

In retrospect...
- We need to understand how the context of a situation effected the meaning of the words they spoke.

- We need to understand the cultural world they lived in: practices, hierarchical structures, conceptions...

- We need to understand how the world viewed and conceptualized certain things.

- We need to understand what was a respected profession. We need to understand a worldview.

This is a simple point, but one we often overlook. Reading books and manuscripts from throughout history, we often take for granted that the way things were seen in the author's day / age / society were the same as the way they are viewed here and now. We think that words mean the same thing. 

Take for example how in Matthew 19:24 Jesus speaks about a camel entering through "the eye of a needle." If you're like me, you've probably been picturing your whole like that Jesus was referring to a sewing needle. However, in his day and age it would have been well understand that "the needle" he was referring to was a small entrance at the back of a castle. Sort of gives some perspective doesn't it! (Incredibly difficult but not biologically impossible.)

We can easily make errors similar to this (sometimes with more gravity) all throughout Scripture if we try to understand and interpret the words spoken and written without taking into consideration context. Thus, an understanding of the time period and cultural background in which Jesus lived will help us to understand His words and His call.

If we don't understand what a disciple was understood to be in Jesus's day and age, we will have a very hard time understanding what it means to be a disciple in this day and age --> for God's call hasn't changed and what we are called to be is really the very same thing He called his first disciples to. (What He asks and expects of us is the same.)

In my next post I will provide an overview of the Jewish relationship between faith, works, and education in Jesus's day and age. Ultimately, I will be describing what it meant and looked like to be a disciple in Jesus's day and age. (P.S. THANK YOU, JEFF CAVINS! No copyright infringement intended. I just took notes at your talk and feel called to share.)