Ann Spangler - Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith

Contents

Spangler and Tverberg, with the rigor of a scientist, the drama of a storyteller, and the passion of a disciple, present a stirring depiction of Jesus as a first-century Jewish teacher that will greatly benefit the scholar and the layperson alike. Supported with careful analysis of ancient sources and recent archaeological discovery, this study is a profound call to follow the Jesus of Scripture.

RAY VANDER LAAN, AUTHOR AND FOUNDER OF THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW MINISTRIES

If we could turn the clock back to the Jewish world of the first century, what would it be like to follow in the footsteps of Jesus the Jew? This highly readable work is rooted in rabbinic sources and reflects current gospel research. Spangler and Tverberg vibrantly introduce the reader to valuable aspects of the Jewish background, lifestyle, and teachings of the Rabbi from Galilee. Through their engaging personal style and reflective Judaic approach toward understanding biblical discipleship, Spangler and Tverberg have hit a home run. The authors draw their readers in to learn at the feet of the Rabbi and leave them begging for more.

MARVIN R. WILSON, PHD, OCKENGA PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL STUDIES, GORDON COLLEGE

For disciples of Yeshua (Jesus) who know little about his Jewishness, including his rabbinic and Hebraic teaching style, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus is the place for them to start. Spangler and Tverberg have created the perfect introduction for the uninitiated. This book will have a deep impact on the thinking of ordinary Christians through the world.

DAVID BIVIN, AUTHOR AND EDITOR, JERUSALEM PERSPECTIVE

Last year over a million pilgrims visited the Holy Land. Few, however, would have learned as much about the historical Jesus as you can by reading this terrific new work by Spangler and Tverberg. Drawing upon personal experiences as well as the latest Jewish and Christian scholarship in Israel, the authors skillfully guide you on a wonderful journey into Jesuss first-century Jewish worldexploring his culture, his lifestyle as an itinerant sage, and his well-honed rabbinic teaching methods and subtle but startling messianic claims. This book makes you really eager to sit at the feet of Rabbi Jesus and learn from the One we joyously serve as both Messiah and Lord. I commend it to every follower of Jesus of Nazareth.

DWIGHT A. PRYOR, CENTER FOR JUDAIC-CHRISTIAN STUDIES

Also by Lois Tverberg

Listening to the Language of the Bible

Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus

Also by Ann Spangler

Finding the Peace God Promises

Hes Been Faithful, Carol Cymbala with Ann Spangler

I Am with You: Daily Meditations on Knowing and Experiencing God

Less Than Perfect

Men of the Bible, coauthored with Robert Wolgemuth

The Names of God: 52 Bible Studies for Individuals and Groups

The Names of God Bible (general editor)

The One-Year Devotions for Women

Praying the Names of God

Praying the Names of Jesus

The Rescue, Jim Cymbala with Ann Spangler

She Who Laughs, Lasts!

The Tender Words of God

Women of the Bible, coauthored with Jean Syswerda

ZONDERVAN

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus

Copyright 2009, 2018 by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Epub Edition January 2018 ISBN 9780310350415

ISBN 978-0-310-33069-1 (softcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35041-5 (ebook)

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Gearbox/Chris Gilbert

Art direction: Curt Diepenhorst

Interior design: Denise Froelich

First printing December 2017 / Printed in the United States of America

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To Laura and Milt Tverberg,

who dedicated their lives to raising their children

as faithful talmidim of Christ.

LOIS TVERBERG

To the Jewish people,

for preserving a faith upon

which my own is built.

ANN SPANGLER

W riting this book has been for us a joy and a privilege. How lucky can you get to spend the better part of your day, month after month, steeping yourself in the life of Jesus and the Jewish world in which he lived? Even as we worked, our own lives were often affected. For instance, as Easter approached this year, we found ourselves writing the chapter on Passover. Delving into that feast, already ancient by Jesuss time, made it easier to visualize and understand the profound events of Holy Week. It was not difficult to picture Jesus in agony on that lonely night in Gethsemane, his own disciples too exhausted to stay awake and pray, oblivious to the events unfolding around them after consuming the heavy Passover meal with its multiple glasses of wine. Their beloved rabbi was about to be consumed by forces that would set things in motion for the promises embedded in the feast to be fulfilled. But they had no understanding of its rich depth of meaning until much later.

As we tried to place ourselves in Jesuss Jewish world, layer after layer of history seemed to peel away until we could almost imagine that for a while we, too, had joined the disciples and were sitting at Jesuss feet.

Gabi Barkai, an eminent Jewish archaeologist, has said that every day in Jerusalem is a day of discovery. Indeed, the last fifty years have seen many exciting archaeological discoveries in the land of the Bible that, far from undermining faith, have bolstered the historical reliability of the Gospels. Whats more, a growing number of Christian scholars have begun to explore the Hebraic roots of Christianity because they realize they have much to learn from their Jewish counterparts about the Jewish customs and traditions that have shaped the Bible. Their research has yielded valuable insights that are not easily available to the general reader.

You might wonder if the authors of this book are Jewish, and the answer is no. We are Christians who are fascinated with our Savior and his life and teachings. If Jesus had been an Eskimo, wed be studying Inuit (Eskimo) language and culture, learning about igloos, ice fishing, and polar bears. The goal of this book is not so much to help you understand Judaism as to help you hear Christs life-changing words with greater clarity and force. God promised Abraham that the Gentiles would be blessed through his descendants. When we honor this ancient people by learning about their culture and customs, God blesses us with a deeper understanding of our Scriptures and of Jesus, our Messiah.