He began His work in the small towns and in the countryside of Galilee, which was more rural in nature than Judea, which contain several larger towns or cities, including Jerusalem. As Jesus transitioned southward from Galilee to Judea, His audience changes.
In Jerusalem, at the Temple, He said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The pronoun ‘you’ occurs four times in this quote, and all four instances are plural.
Jesus speaks here of His ‘teaching,’ which would be Torah in the Hebrew or Aramaic original. The word Torah should be understood as ‘instruction’ or ‘direction,’ but is often misunderstood as ‘law.’
The English word ‘law’ connotes a reactive attempt to force a physical reality, whereas Torah is proactive, and attempts to guide or shape the heart, soul, mind, and spirit. For this reason, translations like ‘teaching’ or ‘instruction’ or ‘direction’ are preferable.
The word Torah, of course, plays a major role in the Old Testament as well. The giving of Torah to Moses and to the people at Sinai is a major event.
The order of events is significant. First, God saves the people, bringing them out of slavery and out of Egypt. Second, He gives them the Torah.
Because salvation precedes Torah, we see grace at work.
Torah leads to Shalom. God’s teaching causes wholeness and wellness.
A Midrash, a rabbinical teaching story, tells us that God wore a prayer shawl, a Tallit, when He gave the Torah to Moses at Sinai. When a rabbi was teaching, he typically wore a Tallit. The Midrash is telling us that God was a teacher to Moses.
Of course, a Midrash sometimes expounds fancifully on Scripture, but the point is valid. Jesus, too, came as a teacher.
If we examine the career of Jesus, then we note that teaching was one of His major activities, and measured by time, it was the activity which He perhaps did most. That’s why He spent as much time on earth as He did.
He wouldn’t have waited 33 years, if He only wanted to die and rise again. He spent time, moving through the land, because He wanted to get the word out.
Jesus wanted to teach first, before His death and resurrection, because He needed to get the news out. He is a teacher. By His example, He shows us that faith is faithfulness, that He persisted in His task.
“The words I have spoken to you — they are full of the Spirit and life,” says Jesus. He gives us Torah, and He is Torah.
[These thoughts taken from a talk given by Dwight Pryor on Friday, September 30, 1994]
