In the dust of the rabbi...

¹³ Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach ¹⁵ and to have authority to drive out demons.

This past month, I’ve been attempting to lead our interns through a study called “The Dust of the Rabbi”.  In this study, Ray Vander Laan takes the listener (it’s a podcast) back in time to the days of Christ and explains, through the cultural lense of Judaism, exactly what Jesus meant when he called his disciples.  Standing in stark contrast to our typical ideals of discipleship: 30 minute devotionals in the mornings, Wednesday night Bible Study, sermons that barely reference the Word of God, and a cursory glance at prayer from time to time; Jesus’s understanding of discipleship was far more.  The very definition of the word “disciple” has been skewed over the years since Jesus’s teaching.  “Disciple” nowadays has come to be thought of as a mere student, someone who wants to know what the teacher knows.  However, “talmede” in a Jewish since (hence, a Jesus sense) meant someone who wants to be what the teacher is. 

In Mark, Chapter 3 (above), Jesus called his disciples, not to class or to a seminar or conference, but he called them “that they might be with him”.  Why is this?  Why couldn’t they just meet him in the synagogue for a few hours a week.....or better yet, a few hours a day?!  Very simply, in order to be like your rabbi, you must be with him every hour of the day; to see how he walks, to hear how he talks, how he reacts in every situation, to learn his routines, his quirks, what he values, what he despises, where he finds joy, peace, comfort, and most of all, who he worships.   To do this, you must be covered “in the dust of the Rabbi”; so close to him that you are covered in his dust. 

How can you and I rearrange our lives to give us more time to follow our Rabbi?  It’s not just a great suggestion...its a life commitment.