In this week’s discipleship teaching series by Ray Vander Laan, he begins teaching a new section of teaching focusing on the life of Jesus. You could ask, "Why did Jesus die?" and most people could tell you: for the penalty of sin. Most people understand the redemptive gift of Jesus on the cross; they understand why He died. But why did He live? That’s not something most people think about, yet the answer is foundational. Jesus called Himself the bringer of peace, and that is good news.

He came to model for God’s partners—His disciples—what it looks like to live out the mission. He came to say, “Let me show you what following God really looks like.” So Jesus lived as the ultimate example of how we should try to live. The question “What would Jesus do?” is central.

We’ve been building a foundation starting with creation, sin, God’s plan, His people, and how He molds them. Today we’re moving to a discipleship passage found in the Christian text. The title "Rabbi" appears only once in the Hebrew Bible (John 1:38, though "rabbi" is used frequently in the Gospels).

Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, came through a family line arranged by God. In the midst of chaos, Jesus spoke, and out of chaos came shalom. God turned the world over to our ancestors, who followed someone else’s advice, and shalom turned back into chaos, tohu. But God restored shalom from the tohu and called us to work for and with Him to cultivate it (Genesis 1:2, Isaiah 45:18).

God wants us to join His story and be His partners. He redeemed us, restored us, gave us ears to hear, and prepared His people for the conflict between kingdoms. He taught us how to seek the lost (Luke 19:10).

Ray posed the question to his class, “Why did Jesus have to die?” what would you say? Someone answered, “His death takes our place.” Good. And, Ray adds, what does God want us to do with that truth? We are to respond by repenting and believing—to have faith in the fact that Jesus died (Mark 1:15). Our Jewish friends understand that we believe in substitutionary atonement. But their question is: Why did Jesus live? Why wasn’t He simply born, spend a week saying, “I’m here,” die, rise, and return to heaven? Why live 33 years?

If Jesus’s main focus was His death, why not just get it over with and move on? But God wants us to have not just faith in Jesus, but the faith of Jesus (Galatians 2:20). Scripture wants to show us how Jesus believed, so that we might live by that same faith. Ray’s opinion is that this is the definition of discipleship.

Mark 1:1 begins: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Let’s look at the introduction to Jesus in the Gospels. By tradition, the Gospel of Mark was written for believers in Rome—perhaps not certainly, but likely. When Jesus was on His way to the cross, He fell. The soldiers forced a man coming into town from the west, named Simon, to carry His cross. Mark adds a strange detail: Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21). They’re never mentioned before or again in Mark’s gospel. Why name them? If you turn to the last chapter of Romans, Paul writes to the believers in Rome and says, “Greet Rufus” (Romans 16:13). This suggests Mark was writing to a Roman audience.

We also need to understand the meaning of “gospel.” Today we think of it as “good news.” But in the Roman world, it was a narrower legally official term. It referred to announcements about Caesar—his coronation, his military victories, or benefits like free bread. The word "gospel" (euangelion) was a political term. It always meant that Caesar is king. So readers would have initially assumed that any gospel was about Caesar.

When we’re asked what “gospel” means, we usually say, “The good news is that Jesus saves.” But in Hebrew thought, it meant more. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news... who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” The emperor claimed to reign, and news about his reign was considered good news. But Isaiah says God reigns, and that’s the real gospel.

The goal is to live in such a way that people look at us and say, “So that’s what it looks like when God takes charge.” We all face modern issues not found in Scripture—like social media. Jesus left us with three things:

1. A way of interpreting Scripture. He interpreted the Old Testament in ways that were universal.
2. A model of discipleship through community. It’s not just about figuring out who we’re supposed to be, but asking how we are to be like Jesus, based on His example.
3. A method to extrapolate that model into our own lives. Jesus ate with sinners—what does that look like today? How do we apply it?

Ray goes back to Mark 1:1. The word Christ is Greek. The Hebrew equivalent is Messiah. Both mean “anointed one.” Many treat “Christ” as Jesus’s last name, but He has one name: Yeshua. Christ is His title. Ray gave the example that “Jesus Christ” is like saying “Ray Teacher.” “Christ” means anointed one—lifted up by God with His Spirit and talents, often symbolized by oil. To be Messiah is to be anointed king. The good news is: Our God reigns—through an anointed king.

In the Roman world, when you saw a statue or inscription of Caesar, it declared: “Caesar is in charge and will benefit you. He is Lord and king.” But Mark says: “Sorry, I’ll pay my taxes, but that’s not the good news. The good news is that Yeshua is Messiah, the anointed King.”

Luke really overturns expectations in Luke 2:10–11 which says, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.’”

Caesar called himself the savior of the world. But Luke says: No, this baby is the Savior—for all people. He is Christ, the Messiah, the Lord. Luke is saying: Sorry Caesar, there is another King who is Lord.

Then in Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” Luke risks everything by putting in writing something that only Caesar dared claim: that he brings peace. Roman emperors would later insist that no one else brings good news. No one else brings peace. Deny that, and it will cost you your life.

Luke risked his life to proclaim this message. Sometimes, in our passion to be biblical, we focus only on humanity being afflicted by sin and needing someone to redeem us. Jesus was willing to pay the price, and we are grateful. We say, “I know where I’m going when I die— the new heavens and new earth.” And that’s true. But God wasn’t finished. He wanted to recreate, redeem, and restore human partners. We are saved to carry out a mission.

It’s vital to observe Jesus in His humanity because He is our model—so we know how to be faithful to the mission. We are saved to a purpose: to be a disciple of the Rabbi-Teacher, Jesus.