We are now starting unit four in Ray Vander Laan’s teaching series. Ray states that he found this journey through the history of discipleship exciting. We looked at the history and mission God gave his people in their historical and cultural context to discover nuance in meaning. Now we look at the peak of discipleship. We continue with the capstone, the peak. The emphasis on culture will not change, but the way we examine culture will. We looked at things historically and culturally, and now we are looking at written texts of rabbis and others from Scripture and Jewish literature.

Texts like the Mishnah were not written down until almost 300 years after Jesus’ birth, so we should not automatically assume what was written then was the same in Jesus’ day. Things shift as recent research brings new insights. Pay attention to contemporary sources such as Josephus. We will discover that much of this material accurately preserves the oral traditions before and after Jesus’ time.

Jesus used a certain interpretive style—one that took the rabbis’ interpretive method and practiced it. This was called the rabbi’s yoke. We look at things in the first-century Jewish world as if Jesus were a human rabbi among us. Jesus engaged with Scripture alongside some of the most intelligent and well-read people of his time.

When the Hebrew people—the children of Israel—were sent into exile under God’s judgment, it became clear they needed something to replace temple practice. A new practice evolved in which people who were gifted as teachers taught the Scriptures. It became their substitute for what went on in the temple. These people were called rabbis.

What is a disciple? Ray frames it under Jesus’ invitation: “Come, follow me.” “Whoever claims to belong to Jesus must walk as Jesus walked” (1 John 2:6).

So when Jesus said, “Follow me,” he did not mean merely “stay close to me.” He meant “live the way I live.” We now look not at the rabbi but at the disciple—the one who comes and follows. Ray states that a theme verse for this would have been when Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31).

There are two stages. The first stage is to believe. Have you given your heart to Jesus? Your life? If you say yes and mean it, you are saved, with the promise of eternal life.

Stage two is to learn to be a godly person. Some people think that part is optional. People generally know God will forgive them if they are saved. Ray says we tend to divide the stages, but Jesus did not see them as separate. So we learn what it means to be a disciple.

Ray teaches a new Hebrew word: “talmid” (singular). “Talmidim” (plural). Masculine. If there is a group of men and women, we use talmidim, disciples. If the group is all women, you say talmida. This term was not used until Jesus’ time because women were generally not considered disciples. How do we get there?

Ray says the Torah was significant to everyday life because of the formal education system. So what was education like for Jesus’ audience, his disciples, and Jesus himself?

There were two schools mentioned: 1. Beth Sefer and 2. Beth Midrash. What went on there, and do we know whether Jesus and his disciples experienced that?

This system is standard about 200 years after Jesus, but were they the same in Jesus’ day? Most scholars say yes—it was evolving in Jesus’ time. Ray is careful not to assume that what was true 200 years later was identical earlier. In their culture, education was encouraged but not required. Galileans were sometimes mocked for this by Judeans.

Since the text was in the synagogue, that is where the school met. In Chorazin it was more elaborate, with a Torah closet—the repository of Scripture. The synagogue was not technically the school, but whatever school they had met inside it.

The one in Gamla is attached to the building on the east side. The one in Capernaum was massive—the largest synagogue in all Israel. What is significant is that the school area is huge compared to other schools—ten times the size of a typical one. The people there were serious about education. Some of the great rabbis you’ve heard of came from this area. And it did not cost a shekel. People supported children with food, etc., so they could study rather than work.

Who went to school? Beth Sefer—we would call it elementary school—was for children. “Sefer” means “book.” Elementary school was the school of the text. They learned history, botany, reading, etc. Apparently it included boys and girls.

That was not the case in all Jewish communities. In Judea, where Jerusalem was, girls were less likely to be educated than in Galilee. Boys focused on Torah and aimed to memorize sections for Bar Mitzvah.

There is record of girls studying wisdom literature. Twice when Jesus speaks to women and quotes Scripture, he quotes from Psalms (Luke 23:28–31; John 20:15–18). Why did he quote Psalms to women on the way to the cross? Jesus is brilliant and understands his audience’s familiarity with Scripture.

Jesus did not fix everything; he started a process. Ray shows us that rabbis were not ordained in the modern sense. A Bible verse appears at the end of what we call the Sermon on the Mount: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Matthew 7:28–29).

There were two kinds of teachers: Torah teachers and teachers who had authority. Jesus was recognized not as a Torah teacher but as a teacher with authority—this also implied ordination of a type. A Torah teacher was a master teacher, fluent in the first five books of Moses, but bound by the community’s accepted interpretations.

In 1983 Ray taught full-time as an education pastor in a large church. He taught during the summer and school year. The church wanted him ordained, so he was examined and went through a formal ceremony. Then he became “Reverend Vander Laan,” though he does not use that title. After they laid hands on him and ordained him, he had to sign a formal statement called the Formula of Subscription, promising before God that he would never teach Bible interpretation contrary to the denomination. He was bound by the teachings of the community. That is like a Torah teacher—they were limited by the community.

There were two major denominations. The point is: if the Torah teacher belonged to the Hillel community, it was one thing. Masters of the Tanakh were masters of all Scripture available then. They were master parable tellers; a few were believed to do miracles. Even if they did not, people thought they did.

There is a formula for teaching a new interpretation. Matthew 5: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully…” (Matthew 5:27–28). The formula is: state the old interpretation (“You have heard”), then present the new (“But I tell you”). Adultery was defined as a physical act before Jesus said this. He did not eliminate the commandment; he expanded it. What goes on in your mind also falls under the commandment. If you think lustful thoughts, it is as if you commit the act. Jesus made the Ten Commandments far stricter. Where only a few may have committed the physical act, suddenly everyone realizes they may have broken it inwardly.

Ray does not think Jesus was trying to make people feel bad; rather, he interpreted the commandment in a new way. You can break it with your mind as well as your body. That was a thunderbolt to them because it made discipleship and commitment several notches more intense. Do you recognize the formula?

Going back to Matthew 5, verse 21: “You have heard it said, ‘Do not murder.’” Jesus’ new interpretation: if you are angry with your brother or sister or call them a fool, you are guilty (Matthew 5:21–22). Verse 38: “You have heard, ‘An eye for an eye.’” New interpretation: turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38–39).

What if Ray had 60 students as passionate and faithful in walking as Jesus walked? Imagine the impact the discipleship community could have on the whole world. Sometimes it seems we are so tiny—what difference could we make? The disciples had no clue how their discipleship would change the world and continue changing it to this day. Be faithful, and let God decide how he will use the faithfulness of his disciples today.