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(Discipleship in the Original Jewish Context, continued…)
When Protestants have visions, they usually have visions of Jesus. When Roman Catholics have visions, they often have visions of Mary. And when Jews have visions, they typically have visions of Elijah. He is a central figure among devout Jews.
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Understanding the relationship of rabbi to disciple – and what discipleship entailed – will help us to better understand Jesus’ teachings because they help us better understand the teacher (Jesus) and His most frequent audience (the disciples).
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In my previous article, I mentioned how my specific use of the term “midrash” is one possible strand of meaning for this multi-stranded term. I use the term to refer to a New Testament midrash that I consider an elaboration of an Old Testament text. That’s it. I refer to the Old Testament text as the “mother text.” The mother text plus its New Testament midrash equals a couplet.
In the world of Biblical academics, however, the term “midrash” can mean several different things. Jacob Neusner clarifies what midrash could mean:
“Is it even possible to find Jesus where he is not? It seems to me that the answer must be yes, for otherwise there are no guardrails for interpretation. For example, is Jesus to be identified with the concubine who was cut into pieces and sent throughout Israel (Judg 20)?” - Word by Word
Roughly 200 Christian leaders gathered at West Houston Bible Church on Monday through Wednesday of this week for the annual Chafer Theological Seminary Pastors’ Conference.
The theme this year was “Critical Issues for Understanding the Old Testament Text.” The keynote speakers were Dr. Randall Price (president, World of the Bible Ministries), Dr. Douglas Petrovich (professor, Brookes Bible College) and Henry Smith (Associates for Biblical Research).
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I agree that much of the New Testament text – and especially the gospels – are populated by what Richard Hays describes as “echoes,” meaning echoes of Old Testament passages.
To adjust terms to my own nomenclature, I would like to subdivide these echoes into at least three categories: allusions (allusions that are only allusions and nothing more1), parallels (in concept, occurrence, or foreshadowings), and midrash.
Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, that is, the author chose to construct the psalm using the literary device of following the order of the Hebrew alphabet from aleph to tav for each successive verse. Such acrostics are rather common in the Hebrew Bible, the most famous being Psalm 119, where each successive group of eight verses begins with the same Hebrew letter. Several other Psalms follow the acrostic pattern, as do four of five chapters in Lamentations, and the final 22 verses of Proverbs 31, in praise of the “virtuous woman.”
Read Part 1.
In our day, we can find a plethora of Jewish Roots resources at our fingertips. Even a fresh translation of The Babylonian Talmud on CD1 offers us a wealth of traditional rabbinic teaching right at hand – for a very low price. Older translations are available online for free. There are many free resources online, including one particularly helpful resource: The Jewish Encyclopedia.
What is the big deal about Jewish Roots? How can we better understand Jesus by examining the debates of His day? Why should we care if He derived some of His teaching from Old Testament passages?
The answer is simple: context. Jewish Roots studies can contribute toward increasing the Biblical context; when we increase context, we increase understanding.
As a conservative evangelical, I hold the Scriptures in high regard. My reverence for the Scriptures means I seek to interpret them fairly, using a method described by the term, “Historical-Grammatical.” Norman Geisler comments in The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics:
