Over the centuries and throughout various cultures, Jesus of Nazareth has been given a variety of titles, identifies and roles. He has been called ‘The Christ,” “Lord,” “Prophet,” “Messiah,” “Saviour,” “Son of God,” “Son of Man,” “Light of the Gentiles,” “Prince of Peace,” “Kings of Kings,” “Universal Man” “The Man for Others,” “The Liberator” to cite but a few.
If we search the scriptures, the title most commonly given to Jesus is “Rabbi” or “Rabboni.” Most of the followers of Jesus as well as others who approached Jesus referred to him as Rabbi. This title was in all probability the most neutral and least controversial of the titles given to Jesus.
The term ‘rabbi” means teacher or master. As a scholar and teacher, the rabbi provided an exoisutuib of a text of sacred scripture comparing and contrasting it to early interpretations, and then applied the text to the lives of the hearers or students.
The rabbi embodied the tradition as traditio (the tradition in process) and made the tradition come alive for his students. He did not simply teach a body of knowledge or series of facts (tradita); rather that which the rabbi taught was a specuak kind of wisdom grounded in a deep and caring understanding.
At his best the rabbi was more than simply a scholar, he befriended the tradition. Such befriending gave rise to a special kind of mastery manifested as Wisdom.
What kind of teacher?
The archetype of the rabbi or teacher helps us to get a clear picture of Jesus as teacher. The rabbi was one who sat within the temple with students or disciples gathered about. Quietly and reverently the rabbi would rehearse the story, draw out the student through questions and carefully examine the various nuances of the portions of scripture under investigation. The rabbi was respected for his love of scripture, his mastery of the text and his ability as a provocative and insightful guide.
Jesus was thought of and referred to as a rabbi, a young rabbi to be sure, but He was knowledgeable of Hebrew scripture and taught with a “certain authority”. Indeed, Jesus taught with a special authority:
And when He entered the temple. the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as he was teaching, and said. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them. “I also ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from man?”
And they argued with one another, ‘It we say, from heaven. He will say to us, why then did you not believe him? But if we say, from men, we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And He said to them. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (Matthew 21: 23-27)
In this passage we find Jesus exemplifying the best of the rabbinic tradition. He answered a question with a question. Rather than providing simple answers, Jesus raised new questions with those who approached Him or sought to learn from Him. For a good rabbi, the questions were as important if not more important than the answers.
Parables typical teaching
Although Jesus used the question and answer dialogue form in His teaching, the most typical way that Jesus taught was through the use of the parable. Jesus taught the Kingdom of God by using some incident from human life, often rather homely and common.
Jesus intertwined the tradition with innovative stories and incidents to make the tradition come alive and to provoke new thoughts and feelings within the hearer or the student.
Many of the parables that Jesus used provided a deeper understanding of the tradition. In most cases they forced the hearer to move beyond the “assumed truth” of the tradition to see the deeper complexity that was a part of a living tradition.
Said differently, Jesus did not teach so much the letter of the law, but rather the spirit of the law. In many of his parables He turned the commonplace upside down to allow for the disclosure of a deeper wisdom. His intent was not to teach a new tradition or a new law. Rather He taught the law as it was intended and the tradition as it was intended to be, a living tradition.
Mobile seminary
One way to think of Jesus’ earthly ministry was to see Him as a rabbi who taught a group of students called disciples, a kind of moving seminary, based in an action/reflection model of pedagogy. Jesus the rabbi gathered about Him twelve followers (probably more) and moved about the countryside preaching, teaching in parables and healing all sorts and conditions of human beings. His healing was a part of His teaching.
The healings of Jesus were examples of “applied knowledge”. The lessons and truths that he taught freed the people from all kinds of bondage: emotional, physical and spiritual. His healings and exorcisms embodied examples of the law and prophets being fulfilled within the sight and hearing of his students.
Jesus brought excitement
While his role and identity as a rabbi was perhaps the least controversial of his roles, that which Jesus taught was most controversial! Both his teaching methods and the content of what he taught became a threat to the religious establishment of his time.
As a teacher He was learned, charismatic and apparently very exciting. He tended to capture the imagination and the hearts of his students.
In that which He taught, the Kingdom of God, He revealed a truth and wisdom that brought with it conversion.
His questions and parables demanded an answer, a response; not a response of intellectual argumentation but a response from the heart and the will. His teaching did not lead to academic speculation but called for a change of heart, a change of mind and a change of life.
In the best sense His teaching was radical and, subversive. He sought to restore the integrity of the law and the deep bond of love which served as the foundation for all of the liturgical practices of His day.
Ask questions in a new way
Given our emphasis in the area of theological education and religious formation within the Diocese, we desperately need to retrieve the image and function of Jesus the Rabbi. For too long we have domesticated, watered down and made dull and uninteresting the Christian tradition.
We have spent too much time looking for the right Christian education program, the most effective curriculum, and searched for a ‘‘one size fits all’’ understanding of the tradition and the faith.
If Jesus provides any kind of example as a rabbi, he confronts us with our need to ask questions in a new way: ask questions of ourselves, of our culture and of our Church.
Jesus the Rabbi Invites us to tell stories to make the tradition relevant to our time and to our own situation. Furthermore, Jesus the Rabbi would call us to a deeper understanding and familiarity with the tradition itself: a working knowledge of scripture, a facility with the tradition of the Church.
Jesus the Rabbi would call us from simply an intellectual appreciation of our religious Identity to a testing of our knowledge through experience. In short allowing our Christian Identity to shape the decisions we make within government, within the market place, and within the context of our family life.
Evoke the rabbi in us
Perhaps most importantly, Jesus the Rabbi would evoke the rabbi within each and every one of us. Jesus taught His disciples so that they might continue to teach after He left them. He taught, corrected and re-taught in a patient and caring way.
His teaching was not intended to convince the few that followed Him during His earthly ministry. His teaching was a teaching of the teachers so that they might carry on His work and spread the content and life of that which He taught: the Kingdom of God.
He calls us to be and do the same: to be teachers of a living tradition which requires that we master the various elements of that tradition.
He calls us to be teachers of faith and identity that is central to our lives, a faith that is taught beginning in the home but extending beyond the home to a wider circle of friends and acquaintances.
Jesus calls us as rabbi to share the teaching of the faith through a life of discipline grounded in wisdom, a life that reflects the Word as embodied, incarnate. In such teaching we fall more in love with that which is taught: holiness, righteousness, justice and peace.
Your Rabbi in Christ