Be With Rabbi Jesus

Quick overview that Jesus – God’s word, Torah came in the flesh to complete Torah and to show us how to live out God’s word in our everyday lives.

The three goals of an apprentice to a Rabbi – Be with rabbi Jesus

Intro –

Quick overview that Jesus – God’s word, Torah came in the flesh to complete Torah and to show us how to live out God’s word in our everyday lives.

Jesus as Rabbi called His disciples-

Follow me –

Can you imagine, Jesus as a 1st century rabbi, walking up to you today and asking you to follow Him?

What does that even mean? Is he asking me to study more, is he asking me to walk with him somewhere? Or is He asking me to model my entire life after Him?

Is He asking me to drop what is important to me and let go of my ambitions and goals and then to spend the rest of my life doing what He does?

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority is heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make Mathetes of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus, has called us all to be Mathetes. Not simply a Christian that goes to church but rather, an apprentice of Him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Today we are going to look at the goals of an apprentice to their Rabbi. My reasoning in this is that our goals as apprentices to Rabbi Jesus should be the same, and as we set at the feet of Jesus over the next year, learning what it means to be Human we should be asking these same questions.

Now, I could give them all to you today but with much wisdom from my wife, Allan, and David I have decided to split these up over the next couple weeks.

Each apprentice of Jesus had these three goals –

1. To be with Rabbi Jesus.

2. To become like Rabbi Jesus.

3. To do the same work of Rabbi Jesus.

Today, we will be discussing what it means to be with Rabbi Jesus.

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Matthew 4:18–22 NLT

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

The word follow here is so interesting.

It means to accept the command, guidance and leadership of a person.

Follow and be with me –

Andrew, Simon (Peter) and James were all Mathetes to their fathers in the family business of fishing.

Follow me – They left their business – They left their families.

These men knew that to follow Jesus the Rabbi was a call to leave everything behind and follow him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- They were called into an apprenticeship to Rabbi Jesus.

That meant – They would be with Him every day, watching every move he made, learning not just from His words but more so from His actions and lifestyle.

Look at this famous quote of a Mathetes to a rabbi.

“I did not go to the rabbi to learn interpretations of the Torah from him but to note his way of tying his shoes… In his actions, in his speech, in his bearing, and his faithfulness to the Lord, man must make the Torah manifest.” – Aryeh Leib Sarahs

To follow Jesus did not mean you added him to your daily list of activities.

To follow Jesus meant you gave up everything and made Him your priority, your life.

To follow Jesus meant He was now your mentor in How to be Human and you were His apprentice.

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Is this how Jesus understood His call to follow Him?

Abide –

John 15:1–8 NLT

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Hate mother father etc..

Luke 14:26–30 NLT

“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

Hand on the plow is not worthy –

Luke 9:57–62 NLT

As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

1 Kings 19:19–21 NLT

So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.

The call of Jesus is to be with Him above everything else, above your family, your occupation, your politics, all your loyalties and even yourself.

How can we learn to be like Him if we refuse to constantly be with Him?

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Well, the apprentices of Jesus had Him physically to follow and be with. How do we in the 21st century follow and be with Jesus?

Holy Spirit. –

John 14:5–7 NLT

“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

Thomas is not asking here, what is the way to Heaven.

He is asking a very Jewish question.

If you leave, what is the Way to which we are to follow?

Jesus tells him, in short – Thomas I am the way.

Now you can imagine Thomas and what He is thinking.

If you are the way and you are leaving us, how will we be able to be with you and follow Your way?

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John 14:15–21 NLT

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

God will give you another –

This word another is another interesting Greek word.

It simply means “Another of the same kind.”

Jesus is saying my Father will give you a helper, comforter who is another me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Holy Spirit is another, just like Jesus.

The same Spirit that raised the dead body of Jesus from the grave is the same Spirit who lives with in the people of God.

Romans 8:11 NLT

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

The Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ and he is the marker of who belong to Jesus and who does not.

Romans 8:9 NLT

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

Galatians 4:6 NLT

And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

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How the Spirit continues to lead us in the Way of Jesus

John 16:12–14 NLT

“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.

The Spirit guides us into truth Just as Jesus did when he was physically here.

The Spirit will only tell us what He has received from Jesus.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jesus through he Holy Spirit is with you every second of every day.

Are you setting at the master’s feet and allowing Him to mentor you in His Way?

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Application –

When you read through the Gospel each day, ask the Holy Spirit to use them to teach you how to live.

When you are doing your daily routine, constantly keep an open ear to the voice of the Spirit.

Practice talking to the Holy Spirit about your day and ask Him to reveal to you how you should speak, act, etc..

Recognize that through the Holy Spirit rabbi Jesus is with you and He desires to mentor you in His Way.