Sermon on the MountWeek 01: Seeing Jesus as My Rabbi

Every Jewish boy’s dream is to grow up to be a Rabbi. However, only the best of the best of the best students can progress from one level to another. The Mishnah describes the steps that a young boy would take to achieve this dream. These are the same steps that Jesus would have followed.

First, at age 6, boys would go to the synagogue to begin their study in Beth Sefer (elementary school) means “House of the Book). The teaching focused primarily on the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible), emphasizing both reading and writing of the scriptures. Large portions were memorized and it is likely that many students knew the entire Torah by memory by the time this level of education was finished (around age 10).

The best of the best students (from 10 to 14) would go to Beth Talmud. Here you would memorize the rest of the scriptures. You would also begin learning the art of Eastern conversation which involves questions and answering. In Western culture, we learn information that we then spit back at the appropriate times (called exams). We say, “what is 2+2?” and you say “4.” Rabbinical study and exams are always questions answered by questions. So, the rabbi would says “What is 2+2?” and the student would answer with “What is 16 divided by 4?” When we see Jesus at the temple, what age is he? What is he doing? (Luke 2:36-52).

Now, after Beth Talmud, if you were the best of the best of the best you would go and seek out a rabbi with s’mikah (authority). This is different than the rabbi you have been studying under at Beth Sefer and Beth Talmud. There are two kinds of rabbis- there are Torah teaching rabbis and s'mikah rabbis. The Torah teaching rabbis have students. The s'mikah rabbis have disciples. There are only a small group of s'mikah rabbis throughout time. Some were reported to have had performed miracles in their time.

This is called Beth Midrash. You would go and present yourself to the rabbi and say, “I want to be your disciple.” So, the rabbi would begin to test you to see if you are the best of the best. Now, this rabbi has an interpretation of Torah and he wants to perpetuate that line of thinking and understanding. He wants to train disciples who can take his interpretation to as many people as others possible.

So this rabbi wants to know, in grilling this potential disciple, “Does this person have what it takes to be my disciple? Does he have what it takes to keep my interpretation of Torah and to spread my interpretation? Is he worthy of my time and attention?” SO the rabbi would question the student. “So tell me, in the book of Habbakuk, what are the 13 references to the book of Deuteronomy and what are the 17 mentions of the word ‘esak’ and how does that differ from ‘arak’?” And the student would say, “point, point, point, bada boom.”

Or the rabbi might engage the student in what is called “remazes.” They would say talk to me about this text. But he doesn’t actually mean this text; he means the verse before it or after. So, you would know the before or after text, and you would respond with a text of your own to answer the question. But,

you won’t respond directly with your text, you would respond with text before or after your own text. And this rabbi would then respond with yet another text, but, once again, not use that text directly but use the ones before or after. These people understood the scripture so well…it is so deep in their bones that they can carry on an entire conversation in other verses.

If the rabbi believes you have what it takes, the rabbi would say, “Come, follow me.” and you would leave your home, your family, your trade to follow this rabbi. To try and become like him. These students were called talmidim (talmid, s.) in Hebrew, which is translated disciple. There is much more to being a talmid than what we call student. A student wants to know what the teacher knows. A talmid wants to like the teacher; that is to become what the teacher is. That meant that students were passionately devoted to their rabbi and noted everything he did or said. This meant the rabbi/talmid relationship was a very intense and personal system of education. As the rabbi lived and taught his understanding of the Scripture his students (talmidim) listened and watched and imitated so as to become like him.

There is a saying in the Mishnah, “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.” May you be following him so closely, that as he walks and kicks up little puffs of dirt from the road, that it settles on your feet. If your rabbi put a toothpick in his mouth, you put a toothpick in your mouth.

From age 14 to 30 one would be talmid and follow his rabbi. After that time he would be torah rabbi. A man would be a torah rabbi for most of his life. However, if he was the best of the best of the best of the best of the best and generally after many years of being a torah rabbi, he could become a s’mikah rabbi. IThe way a rabbi moved from a teaching rabbi to becoming a s’mikah rabbi is that two s’mikah rabbis would have to lay hands on the “lesser” rabbi.

Having s'mikah meant that a rabbi could make a new interpretation of Torah (which Jesus does), anywhere you see Jesus saying "you have heard it said, but I tell you" He's making a new interpretation of Torah - this new interpretation was called a rabbi's yoke.

Torah Teachers –

It is written…..and it means…..

S’mikah Rabbis -

You have heard……BUT I tell you……..

Now each s’mikah rabbi has a certain way of interpreting the text. One rabbi might say, “On Sabbath you can do this, this, and this” while another rabbi would say, “You can do this, that, and this other thing.” The rabbi’s particular way of interpreting the text (i.e., the rules he would add to the scriptures) would be called his ‘yoke.’ So, when you followed a rabbi, you would take his ‘yoke’ upon you and live under his rules.

The S’mikah of Jesus.

So, consider this line of questioning: Matthew 21:23.

So, where does Jesus get his s’mikah? Matthew 3:13-17. John the Baptist and the Spirit of God.

Matthew 7:28-29 – He teachs as one who had authority.

If Jesus had s’mikah, then he had a yoke. As a matter of fact, Jesus says, “take my yoke upon you” (Matthew 11:28) because it isn’t an endless list or rules. It is easy and light.

So, what is Jesus’ yoke? I think the answer is the discourses in Matthew.

Matthew records 5 “great discourses,” each one followed by a narrative. (A long intro and a short conclusion bracket those):

Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) The Commissioning of the Apostles (Matthew 10) The Parables about the Kingdom (Matthew 13) The Childlikeness of the Believer (Matthew 18) The Second Coming (Matthew 24-25)

Matthew goes to great length to show that Jesus is s’mikah rabbi (baptism in Matthew 3 and calling of disciples in Matthew 4).

I think the Sermon on the Mount was part of Jesus’ core teaching that he spoke over and over again at a variety of times and places. These teachings are his yoke, his interpretation of Torah. His ideas on how man is to relate to God and Man.

While I want us to have the Jewish perspective to the Sermon on the Mount, I want us to study these passages, not to merely be better Christians or to gain deeper insight into ourselves and our lives. I want us to study this passage with the intensity of talmid…as a disciple seeking to be like his rabbi. I want us to sit at the feet of the Master Rabbi, learn his yoke, and take it upon us because in it, we will find rest for our souls.

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If you weren’t good enough, if you don’t pass the test, then the rabbi would say, “You are a good student and you are well-versed in Torah but I want you to go home and get married and make babies and pray that they become rabbi. Go home and ply your trade.”

Notice the text in Matthew 4:18. Why are they fishermen? Because they are plying their trade. They are not good enough. They failed somewhere along the way. Why do the drop their nets? Because a rabbi things they are good enough. This is why they drop their nets.

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