Jesus' Early Teaching Methods
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Jesus was educated according to the Jewish educational system of his day, learning the Torah and studying under rabbis. Despite his education, Jesus chose ordinary, uneducated men as his first disciples rather than the religious elite. By choosing simple "wash-outs" rather than the best and brightest, Jesus modeled humility and service. He taught his disciples to imitate him as he imitated Christ, finding their own rabbis to learn from and talmids to teach and mentor.
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Jesus' Early Teaching Methods
- 3. First Point Jesus was schooled in the Jewish educational system of his day.
- 4. Luke 2:52 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
- 5. Beth Sefer “The House of the Book” Synagogue School at Capernaum • Ages 6-10 • Memorized 5 Books of Moses.
- 6. Beth Talmud “The House Learning” Synagogue School at Capernaum • Ages 11-14 • Memorized rest of Old Testament.
- 7. Luke 2 – Jesus in the Temple 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
- 8. Beth Midrash “The House Study” Synagogue School at Capernaum • Tutored by a rabbi and taught to find “new meaning” in the text.
- 9. למד / Lamad •To learn, to study יד ִמ ְל ַּ/ת Talmid • A learner, a disciple
- 10. Second Point Jesus chose “wash-outs” as disciples.
- 11. Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
- 12. Why didn’t Jesus choose the best and the brightest?
- 13. Matthew 23 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
- 14. 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
- 16. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1
- 17. Identify someone who is more like Jesus than you are and seek them out. Find your Rabbi
- 18. Identify someone who is in need of further spiritual development and humbly invite them to follow you. Find your Talmid
Editor's Notes
- During this series, as we’ve been keeping one eye on the first 100 days of President Trump’s administration. As we’ve done this, we’ve seen that there are some unmistakable parallels between a President’s first 100 days and the first 100 Days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. There are certain leadership principles that all movements have in common during their earliest days.
- Today we will look at Jesus’ Cabinet… his team. However, they will look very unlike President Trump’s team. They will have far fewer obvious qualifications as leaders. Not as educated. Not as experienced in leadership. But the Son of God has a discernment beyond that of any great human leader. He can see qualities beyond the obvious, and the team He selected did more than define His earthly ministry… they changed the world forever. You may have noticed that I took two of these messages out of sequence. There was a very good reason for this. Last week I was way too sick to sort out the sequence of events in Jesus’ calling of His first disciples. The 4 gospels each describe different aspects of Jesus’ first encounters. The accounts are not contradictory, but they do require some effort to seam them together. My goal today is for us to figure out this sequence and then answer a more important set of questions. What kind of men did Jesus call? Why did he call those kind of men? And as we look at all of this, to understand how God calls us, why he calls us and what he calls us to.
- I want to introduce you to an important Jewish verb, and a noun derived from it. The verb “lamad” is the Hebrew verb that means to learn or to study. And a learner or student was called a “Talmid”. A talmid is a learner, or a disciple. All Jewish young men were deeply schooled in Word of God. The literacy rate in first century Judea and Galilee was 95%... Higher than 21st century America. In the region of Galilee, where Jesus grew up, there was a particularly strong culture of discipleship. Parents hoped that their children would be selected by a rabbi to follow in his footsteps. In fact, they did not feel slighted when a son did not follow dad in the family trade or business...there was a great sense of personal pride when a son was chosen to be a Talmid, a student of God’s Word and the traditions of the elders. The training was rigorous, involving a tremendous amount of memory work. The first stage of education was called the Beth Sefer, which literally means “The House of the Book.” To begin the process, on the first day of school, the rabbi asked each student to lift up his slate. Then the rabbi covered each slate with honey, which signified God’s favor. He then asked the boys to lick off the honey from their slate. While they did, the rabbi quoted from the Book of Ezekiel, saying: “My pupil, lick off the honey. May you never forget the Word of God is like honey - taste and see that the Word of God is good.” This left a powerful impression on the children, linking Scripture with pleasure. It was not uncommon for a ten year old graduate of the Beth Sefer to have memorized the first 5 books of our bible...completely! By 14, the graduate of the Beth Talmud, the House of Learning, has memorized or at least become intimately knowledgeable of the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, Joshua—Malachi. This background helps us to understand Zebedee’s acquiescence to Jesus calling. His sons had not been selected. They were well schooled in God’s Word, but they weren’t the best of the best. But now, Jesus, a rabbi is calling them to follow in his footsteps. Zebedee’s sons are highly honored and so is he. But why these men. Why not choose the best and the brightest. Every President brags that his cabinet are the best and the brightest. It’s a simple principle of disciplemaking. Insecure leaders surround themselves with less brilliant people who form a background against which they shine. But truly great leaders choose the best of the best. Why didn’t Jesus choose someone like Saul of Tarsus. Gamaliel chose him. He was clearly brilliant. Why choose fishermen and a tax collector, and a political agitator? Why not choose a fully trained Talmid? There was a very good reason. During the earlier stages of Jewish learning, the focus was entirely on God’s Word. However, by the final stage of training, the focus shifted to the traditions of the Elders. When Jesus battled the Pharisees the criticized them for this very approach to scripture.
- Let’s jump forward for a moment into the book of Acts, where we will actually learn something very important about Jesus’ disciples. In Acts 4:13 we read: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. The context here is very important. Peter and John are being questioned by the Jewish ruling council led by Caiaphas and his father-in-law Annas, the very religious leaders who ruled against Jesus and prevailed to Pilate that he be crucified. Peter and John won’t back down and they demonstrate great boldness. The next statement requires perspective. As far as these men are concerned, the men before them are uneducated. Here is where we could go seriously amiss. To us, eneducated may suggest a lack of sophistication. Bad grammar. Common in the sense of crude. If there is intelligence, it is the brilliance of an uncut diamond. But the truth is a bit different.
- 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
- 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? We call this sophistry. It is a twisting of words and ideas. After stuffing a child full of Torah, the Jewish scholars of Jesus’ day stuffed their best and brightest full of nonsence. That is why Jesus is constantly saying, You have heard it said by them of old… but I say unto you. If Jesus had chosen the best and the brightest, he would have had to unteach them in order to teach them. So instead he chose men well versed in God’s Word and relatively unpolluted by the sophistry of the religious scholars of the day.
- Jesus final call of his earliest disciples was a call to become his “talmidim”… His disciples. Rather than stuff them full of vain traditions and sophistry, he would teach them how to properly understand, apply and live out God’s Word. In Jesus’ day, the call to discipleship was a call to be “covered in the dust of your rabbi.” It was a call to go wherever he went. It was a call to do whatever he did. It was a call be come like him, not so much in personality, but in matters of faith and practice. There is a funny story in Jewish literature. It is an example of a disciple whom I would say went to the extreme: A disciple named Akiba followed his teacher Rabbi Joshua into the bathroom to learn his method of going to the toilet. When he was challenged for taking such extreme steps in learning the behavior of his rabbi, Akiba responded, “It is a matter of instruction and I am required to learn.” Now, please understand I am not looking for an audience in the loo! But do you see the zealousness in this story. The extreme desire to learn and follow. Consider this instruction from one who was the best and brightest, the Apostle Paul. He was a talmid… a disciple of Gamaliel, the most respected rabbi in first century Judaism.
- Paul made a statement that sounds extremely arrogant to us. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1 Set in our culture, these are the words of a narcissist. However, in Paul’s culture of discipleship, these are the words of a rabbi to his talmidim. They are the words of Jesus to you and me. Jesus has called us to follow him closely… to literally walk in the dust of his way until our feet are covered in the dust of His example.
- Identify someone who is more like Jesus than you are and seek them out. I know this sounds weird. And maybe you’ve been passively waiting for someone to reach out to you. I think that sometimes where like that shy kid at the school dance who sips punch on the sidelines and waits for someone to notice him or her. I want to exhort you get on the dance floor. It’s time for us benchwarmers to take the field. Sometimes a Timothy needs to catch a Paul.
- Find your Talmid Identify someone who is in need of further “training in righteousness” and invite them to follow you. I cannot understate the importance of this. Although I have encouraged those in need of disciplemaking to purse, the biblical mandate is for those who are mature to reach out. Part of the state of spiritual immaturity is a lack of spiritual hunger, coupled with a lack of follow-through. It is doubtful that any of Jesus’ disciples would have sought Him out. They thought they missed that opportunity. But Jesus sought them out and called them to follow Him. And although the video sounded a bit forced, He really did call them to change the world… and they did.