During the Second Temple period pilgrimage was associated with the festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.
Book Review: Brad Young’s Jesus and His Jewish Parables
From the outset Young argues that the best way to understand what Jesus was teaching in his parables is to try to hear him as he spoke to his people. The author argues that this can best be done by analyzing the parables of Jesus together with those told by other rabbis of his day.
Book Review: David Flusser’s Personal Perspective on Brad Young’s Jesus and His Jewish Parables
Anyone who wants to be a good worker in the field of Jesus’ parables should begin by studying Brad Young’s Jesus and His Jewish Parables.
Understanding Parables
The rabbis taught, “Do not underestimate the value of parables, because by means of parables a person can master the words of Torah” (Song of Songs Rabbah 1:8).
Naming John the Baptist
The naming of a child at his circumcision ceremony, as presented in Luke 1, is also mentioned in Luke 2:21 regarding the naming of Jesus. In fact, naming a child during the circumcision ceremony is still accepted Jewish practice. The naming rite includes a prayer for the child’s well-being.
John the Nazirite
The Mishnah seems to indicate that the vow to abstain even from specific parts of the grape implies acceptance of the entire nazirite regimen. According to Nazir 1:2, even if one vows: “I will abstain from eating grape seeds and grape skins…, he becomes a nazirite.”
Zechariah’s Prestigious Task
It was not unknown for a priest to see a vision or hear a heavenly voice in the sanctuary at the time of the incense offering. Josephus relates that while the high priest and ruler John Hyrcanus was offering incense in the sanctuary, he heard a voice proclaiming that his sons had just defeated the Syrian king Antiochus (Antiq. 13:282).
A Priest of the Division of Abijah
The priestly division of Abijah was named after one of the priests who returned to the land of Israel with Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Nehemiah 12:4). This was the priestly division to which Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, belonged.
First-century Discipleship
Like other sages of his time, Jesus demanded his disciples’ total commitment. They were to put the “kingdom of Heaven” (Jesus’ band of full-time disciples) before all else. They were to “hate,” that is, put second, father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and themselves, as well (Luke 14:26). Following Jesus to learn Torah from him was to take precedence over every other endeavor.
At the Feet of a Sage
Jewish sages and their disciples were dependent upon the hospitality of the communities they visited.
Was Jesus a Rabbi?
It was only after 70 A.D. that רַבִּי (rabi) became a formal title for a teacher, and thus cannot correctly be applied to Jesus.
Jesus and the Oral Torah: The Hem of His Garment
The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus, like all observant Jews of the first century, wore tsitsiyot. These are the tassels that were attached to the four corners of one’s robe as commanded in Numbers 15 and Deuteronomy 22. Jesus’ observance of this commandment is dramatically illustrated by the story of the woman who suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years.
Jesus and the Oral Torah: Tithing
Did Jesus observe the commandment to tithe as it was interpreted in the Oral Torah?
The Syndicated Donkey
Randall Buth may have discovered a significant idiom in the Greek text of Luke. This idiom could help us in determining the original language of Jesus’ biography. In Luke 19:33, did the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday have more that one owner as the Greek text states?
Jesus and the Oral Torah: Written and Oral Torah
The Torah was given by God as a guideline for a whole way of life.
Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 3: Jesus’ Hebrew Name (Part 3)
In this lesson we will learn the two sounds of the second syllable of Jesus’ Hebrew name. The first sound of the second syllable of יֵשׁוּעַ (ye·SHU·a‘) is the “sh” sound. This is represented by ש (shin), the twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Written with three points or teeth, it got its name from the Hebrew word for “tooth” because of the pictograph upon which it was based.
“Prophet” as a Messianic Title
There can be little doubt that Jesus viewed himself as a prophet, and that many of his contemporaries concurred.
