If your computer crashed, would you go someone who has a
degree in computer programming or geology? Obviously, you would go to the one
with the computer programming degree. If you got the flu, would you go see
someone who went to med school or someone who went to law school? You’d
obviously go to the med student over the law student. If your car won’t start,
do you go to a mechanic or a carpenter? Once again, the answer should be clear:
mechanic. I hope it’s obvious where I am going with this. When we need help
with something, we usually want a professional or some kind of expert to assist
us. To determine if they are an expert, we usually want some kind of
credentials, like an education, job experience, or references. Is the same true
for the Christian faith? In 1st century Israel, the Jews believed
credentials were very important. They needed those credentials to accept a
rabbi’s teaching. Today, we’ll talk about how a rabbi got credentials, why it
seemed to the Jews like Jesus had no authority, and why it might have taken a
little more faith for the Jews to believe in Jesus.
The Gospels don’t use the term “credentials,” but they use
something close to it. Go read Matthew 7:28,29 and Mark 1:22,27. What’s the
common word used in these passages? Authority. As you can tell from both passages,
the Jews cared about credentials, or authority. Where did the typical Jewish
rabbi get his authority from? First, he got it from his education.
In 1st century Israel, school was not required
for children, but most Jews believed a good education was mandated by God in
Deuteronomy (4:9; 6:7,8; 11:19-21), so they would send their children. Children
began school at the age of 5 or 6, like they do here in America. School was
held most of the time in the synagogue. The class size averaged around 25
students because if a teacher had more than 25 students, he needed an assistant,
and if a teacher had more than 40 students, he needed a second teacher. Some
schools had girls, while other schools did not, so scholars cannot clearly
decide if girls were or were not allowed in school, or why or why not a girl
would or would not be allowed. In school, the students learned reading and
writing in Hebrew (and maybe Greek), the Torah, the Talmud, and other Rabbinic
teaching. The teaching style was mainly repetition and rote memorization.
Jesus most likely had this education because Jesus was
literate, and his father Joseph was most likely a good, law-abiding Jew.
After completing school between ages 12 and 13, most boys
ended their education to learn the family trade for their occupation. Girls
would prepare to be married. The smartest boys, however, would continue their
education in what we might call an “internship.” A rabbi would select a student
who he thought had potential and that student would become his disciple. The
student’s job, as a disciple, would be to learn everything from his rabbi, so
much that he could fully imitate his rabbi. This usually included memorizing
the whole Hebrew Bible (what we call the Old Testament), as well as his rabbi’s
teachings.
Jesus most likely did not have any schooling past what we
would call “8th grade,” which is after turning 13, because none of
the New Testament writers mention it. If Jesus would have had this education,
the Bible most likely would have mentioned it because it would have given Jesus
instantly credibility. By not having this academic training (or at least not
mentioning it), every audience listening to Jesus, from the original listeners,
to the original readers, to the listeners and readers of today, would just have
to take His word for it.
Where else did a Rabbi get his credibility? By quoting other
rabbis! Hear what Sanhedrin
2:1–5 has to say about lighting lamps on the Sabbath:
“1. With what may they light [the Sabbath
lamp] and with what may they not light it? They may not use cedar-fibre or
uncarded flax or raw silk or a wick of bast or a wick of the desert or
duck-weed; or pitch or wax or castor-oil or [Heave-offering] oil that [is
become unclean and] must be burnt, or [grease from] the fatty tail or tallow.
Nahum the Mede says: They may use melted tallow. But the Sages say: It is all
one whether it is melted or not melted: they may not light therewith.
2. [Heave-offering] oil that [is become
unclean and] must be burnt may not be used for lighting on a Festival-day.
Rabbi Ishamel says: Tar may not be used out of respect for the Sabbath. But the
Sages permit all kinds of oils: sesame-oil, nut-oil, fish-oil, colocynth-oil,
tar, and naphtha. Rabbi Tarfon says: They may use only olive-oil.
3. Naught that comes from a tree may be used
for lighting [the Sabbath lamp] excepting flax; and naught that comes from a
tree can contract uncleanness by overshadowing excepting flax. If a wick made
from [a piece of] cloth was twisted but not singed, Rabbi Eliezer declares it
susceptible to uncleanness and not to be used for lighting [the Sabbath lamp];
but Rabbi Akiba says: It is not susceptible to uncleanness and it may be used
for lighting [the Sabbath lamp]
4. A man may not pierce an egg-shell and fill
it with oil and put it on the opening of the lamp so that the oil will drip
from it; [it is forbidden] even if it was made of earthenware (but Rabbi Judah
permits it); but if the potter had joined it [with the lamp] from the first, it
is permitted in that it is a single vessel. A man may not fill a dish with oil
and put it beside a lamp and put the end of the wick in it so that it will
absorb [the oil]. But Rabbi Judah permits it.
5. If a man put out the lamp [on the night of
Sabbath] from fear of the gentiles or of thieves or of an evil spirit, or to
suffer one that was sick to sleep, he is not culpable; [but if he did it with a
mind] to spare the lamp or to spare the oil or to spare the wick, he is
culpable. But Rabbi Jose declares him exempt in every case excepting that of
the wick, since he thereby forms charcoal.”
I hope you didn’t get lost in the rabbis’ debate over
lighting lamps on the Sabbath. The point is not whether or not this is a good
or bad ruling. The point is how every rabbi carefully quoted every Rabbi for
every view out there. Notice the constant quoting of Rabbis. Rabbis got their
authority from quoting each other, mainly in the Talmud. Personally, it
reminded me of how I wrote my Bible papers in undergrad. For example, listen to
my paper on the background of Jonah. (Remember
to read the in-text citation to get the point!)
By most scholars, Jonah is accepted
as the author of the book. From New Testament references, it is known as fact
that Jonah is a real person. Jonah was the son of Amitti (Willmington 473).
Jonah’s name means “dove” and his father’s name, Amitti, means “true”
(Spence-Jones v). Neither name has any symbolic meaning to their character
(Stuart Jon. 1). The verse from 2 Kings 14:25 tells us Jonah was from the town
Gath Hepher. Gath Hepher was founded in the territory allotted to the tribe of
Zebulun when Israel settled (Hannah 1:1461). Later, Gath Hepher would be
considered in the region of Galilee (Henry Jon. 1:1). Nothing is known about
Jonah’s early life. Jewish legend makes Jonah the son of the widow at Zarephath
that Elijah resurrected, but there is no Biblical proof for that (Kiel and
Delitzsch 10:255). Not much is told about Jonah’s job as prophet before he was
called to go to Nineveh. Jonah is considered one of the later prophets
(Richards 546). The prophet’s preaching probably proceeded immediately after
Elijah and Elisha (Hannah 1:1461). When Jonah received his call to go to
Nineveh, he was probably an elderly man (Kiel and Delitzsch 10:255). “Jonah might well be called the Old
Testament’s ‘patriotic prophet’” (Richards 546). Jonah would bring messages
from the Lord to Jeroboam II (Henry Jon. 1:1). Jonah was always glad to inform
the king that God will flourish Israel with wealth and a strong army (Richards
546). Jonah must have liked to do this, for he seems to have a strong pride in
his country and doesn’t like its opponents (Stuart Jon. 1). Apart from this
information, nothing more about Jonah’s life is known (Smith and Page 205). No
biographical information of Jonah appears in the book, as typical for a
prophetic book (Stuart Jon. 1).
Once again, I hope you didn’t get too caught up in the
background information on Jonah. My point is not the information on Jonah, but
rather how I have to carefully cite my sources to build my credibility in my
thesis.
It seems both back then and today our authority comes from
quoting the scholars, experts and elders of the past. But Jesus was different.
Read John 7:15-17 in the NASB, ESV, KJV and NIV (both 1984
and 2011 ed.) and see how the wording is changed. If you don’t have all these
Bibles available, it can be done at Bible Gateway.
The Greek for “such learning,” when translated literally,
means “knows his letters.” As stated above, this verse acknowledges that Jesus
got his basic schooling. He knows how to read and write Hebrew. What puzzles
the Jews is that Jesus “has never been educated” (NASB), “has never studied”
(ESV), “has never learned” (KJV), “without having studied” (NIV84), “without
being taught” (NIV2011). The Greek word, memathekos,
means “to acquire information as the result of instruction.” The word is used in
both an informal or formal context. In most occurrences, this is used in a
moral context. What baffles the Jews is that Jesus never got his discipleship
from a Rabbi. How does Jesus know so much? Does he really know much, if he
hasn’t gotten the proper training?
How does Jesus answer? His authority is from his Father.
Jesus
declares that he does not need authority from any other man. He teaches on his
own authority. Where did he get his authority? From the Father. The Jewish
teachers of the law had thought that their authority came from the Talmud or
other Rabbinic writings, but they forgot that true authority came from God and
His Word. If they would have remembered that, they would have recognized Jesus
as the Christ. Unfortunately, they did not, and instead they decided he wasn’t
the Messiah because he did not have any credentials from education or other
Rabbis.
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