The Jewish educational system in Jesus’s day was astounding. Growing up in that culture was about total immersion in the Scriptures. It was about learning and memorizing God’s Word so that it shaped everything you did. It was also about learning to ask really great questions and debating with your teachers. But much like professional sports, only the best of the best got to keep going and eventually become disciples. Which raises some fascinating questions: What might the Jewish educational system of Jesus’s day reveal to us about his disciples? What might it teach us about God’s intentions for our discipleship? By the end of this episode, you’ll recognize the subtle hints in the Scriptures you’d missed all along and have a deeper appreciation for Jesus’s explosive words, “Come, follow me.”
Note: This is a jam-packed 25-min episode. There’s a lot of information in this one. With that said, our goal was to provide you with the single, best resource for understanding the Jewish educational system in Jesus’s day in its entirety. We think we did it. Enjoy!