Dust of the Rabbi

I read recently in the book of Mark about Jesus’ calling of the disciples. I have heard the verse in question used several times in teaching, talking about the level commitment to follow Jesus or something like that. I think the text over simplifies it. Mark 1:16-18 says “As Jesus walked along the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. “Come, follow me” Jesus said, “For I will make you fishers of men. At once, they left their nets and followed him.” In all honesty, after reading that, it almost makes them sound like they were possessed or some type of zombies who just instantly heard Jesus’ call and dropped everything they were doing. I look at that text, and wonder what that can mean for me, or even what that meant at the time. Right? How do I drop my net now and follow Jesus? Do I just stop working one day and start reading my bible instead? After doing some digging, I was able to come up with an explanation as to why they would have acted in such a way.

Credit: Harry Anderson 1906-1996

Jesus was raised in an area called Galilee. 1st century Jews in this area had a relatively strict educational system that was pretty much centered around the Torah. The Torah (Which means The Teaching, or The Instruction) consisted of the first 5 books of today’s bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They believed that God spoke to Moses, and gave them these 5 books as instruction for their lives. Around the age of 4-5, Jewish boys and girls would start their education on the Torah at a local synagogue. They would learn about, read, write, and memorize the Torah till about age 10. By age 10, most all students had the entire Torah memorized…all 5 books. This absolutely blows me away. I’m not even sure how well I knew how to read at age 10. Anyway, this schooling was called Beth Sefer. At the end of Beth Sefer, girls and most boys would then stay home and begin tending to the home, or learning the family trade. This was as far as most boys made it however, the best of the best from Beth Sefer, would begin what was called Beth Midrash. In Beth Midrash, students would continue to grow in their knowledge of the Torah, as well as memorize and learn interpretations of the Oral Torah, which included Genesis, all the way through Malachi. This astonished me. That is 39 books, totally memorized, verse for verse. In my Bible that is 1380 pages! Why would they do this? Well they didn’t exactly have Kinko’s or any other easy way for them to own copies of these materials, so they would memorize them. This also allowed them to have discussions about the text, where all parties could literally call on any verse, just like if they had one of our bibles sitting in front of them. That is incredible to me. Anyway, by the time they finished Beth Midrash, students were typically 14-15 years of age. Some would then leave to go continue learning their family trade, and work for their family, while the very best of the very best would pursue teaching under a rabbi, which was called Beth Talmid. To pursue the teaching of a rabbi, students would basically go to that rabbi, and ask to be his disciple. The rabbi would then grill the students asking them questions from the Torah, as well as interpretations of the text. The students weren’t just looking to know what the rabbi knows, they wanted to be like that rabbi, and learn to do what the rabbi did. Rabbis often times had different interpretations of what certain text meant, and where one rabbi might see a verse meaning one thing, another rabbi could see it differently; This set of interpretations was called that rabbi’s yoke. So, here we are, the best of the best of the best come to a rabbi, asking to be like that rabbi, and the rabbi has to ask himself “Can this kid do what I do?” “Can this kid be like me” “Do I think this kid is capable of spreading my yoke?” To some of the kids, the rabbi would say “I don’t think you are capable of being my disciple, go to your family, and continue learning your family trade instead”, but to a very select few, the rabbi would tell the student “Come, follow me.” This is what it meant to be a disciple, learning to do what your rabbi does. This was a HUGE honor. So, these boys about 15 years of age would follow around their rabbi from city to city, learning to be like their rabbi. Obviously the streets at this time were all dirt, and as these students would strive to follow closely in the footsteps of their rabbi, dust would be everywhere from the road, and a saying started…”May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi”…meaning that you would be following him well, and learning to do as he did. From there, assuming that the rabbi continued to teach them, they would become rabbis themselves or “teachers” around the age of 30. Back to our initial verse…

So, in the beginning of Mark, we find Jesus (around the age of 30) walking down the water in Galilee. He comes up on Simon and Andrew who were both fisherman. If they were fisherman, we know that they must not have been what? They were not the best of the best. They were not the ones who got called up through the system to get to be disciples of a rabbi. Jesus says “Come, follow me” – what he is really saying here is “I think you can be like me, I think you can do what I do.” No wonder they dropped everything and left. This was a huge honor for them, rather than going up and pursuing a rabbi, the rabbi chose them. This Jesus went out and chose his disciples, those who he knew were capable of bearing his yoke; those who were capable of carrying on his teaching. We see this in John 15:16 (Jesus speaking) “You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit…” This is a huge thing. The disciples were not the best of the best, but Jesus still says that they can study under him, they can be like him, they can learn to do what he does.

In application, I really like this concept, and the saying that the disciples of the 1st century used. My prayer is that I would follow my rabbi (Jesus) so closely and walk with him so intimately, that people would be able to tell we had spent time together. Not in dust like the disciples of then, but that I would be covered with the scent of Jesus. That through my daily life, people would see him through me: by the way that I conduct myself, and by the way that I love those around me. I pray that you may be covered in the dust of your rabbi.