Torah Club is excited to announce that our study for the next Torah cycle will be Jesus, My Rabbi. This new study will be an exploration of the Gospels from a Jewish perspective.
The content of Jesus, My Rabbi will be based on material from our popular commentary set on the Gospels, Chronicles of the Messiah.
Over the next few weeks, we will be providing “sneak peek” articles about Jesus, My Rabbi in the form of discussions with some of the Torah Club team. This week, Daniel Lancaster is our guest, and he is going to share with us about the content of this new study.
Torah Club Staff: Daniel, tell us why the Torah Club team decided to do a study of the Gospels during the next cycle of Torah Club?
Daniel: Since we started the new Torah Club, we spent two years going through the regular weekly Torah portions. We feel it is now time to bring our Torah Club Members into the New Testament with new eyes. When you have done a lot of Torah Study, it is amazing how the old stories in the Gospels seem brand new, and the teachings of Jesus snap into focus. We also want the opportunity to reach out to a broader circle of people who might be interested in learning about Jesus from a Jewish perspective but might be reluctant about a Torah study.
We hope that by introducing folks to the Torah through the Gospels, we can get them interested in Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom. Also, Torah Club does not include only the five books of Moses. For example, we also study the haftarah portions in our commentary set Voice of the Prophets.
From a Jewish perspective, all Scripture is “Torah.” We view the Gospels as Jesus’ instruction, His Torah. Jesus’ Torah is not a different Torah, but it fills up the teachings of Moses. There is a natural relationship between the Torah and the Gospels, like a hand fitting into a glove.
Torah Club Staff: How does Jesus, My Rabbi relate to Chronicles of the Messiah?
Daniel: It is essentially the same material as the commentary. However, we repackaged it with some cosmetic changes and edits that make it friendlier to a broader audience, group Bible study, and devotional purposes.
Torah Club Staff: Why is it important for disciples to understand Jesus as “my Rabbi”?
Daniel: The title Jesus, My Rabbi is at the heart of discipleship and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We must understand Him as “Master” or “Lord” and not only as Savior. Jesus Himself said, “Why do you call me Master and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). By learning to think of Jesus as our Rabbi, that is, as teacher and Master, it reframes our relationship with Him.
