Last Summer I was happy to celebrate my graduation from Shiloh University with a Master of Divinity degree. It took me several years, numerous classes, books, and hundreds of hours. However, my desire to study and learn did not stop with the graduation. Achieving a degree was never my main goal. My goal was, and continues to be, always focused on learning and discovering new insights about the Scriptures.
Out of the many classes that I took, several had a great impact on my life, but the highlight for me was learning about the Jewish Roots of the Early Church. I continue researching and trying to learn as much as I can about the atmosphere, culture, religious, and social realities of the time of the Second Temple, the time of Jesus Christ. This is something that for the most part has been lost throughout history.
It is with this thinking that I started to teach about a new way to read the New Testament, about the life of Jesus Christ, the Early Church, the ministry and message of Jesus and His disciples. It is very interesting to read the parables that Jesus taught in the context of the other rabbis and teachers at the time of Christ. He was speaking to His people, using His knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures, and presenting a practical application and a way to live by what He believed was the Word of God.
Soon we will have a small series of podcasts with teachings about the parables, the Jewishness of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, and the early beginnings of the Church. Although I graduated with my Master of Divinity Degree, I am still a student. I am not claiming to know everything about all these different subjects, but I am willing to dig for the truth and find the freedom that comes with it!
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:31–32).
John 18:20
Luke 2:41-52
Mark 1:21-22; 38-39
Mark 6:1-5; 56