In Mike’s introductory video for this week, we learned not only the twelve disciples Jesus called but also a major part of his method for determining who should and should not be one, namely, a full night of prayer. Jesus’ commitment to prayer is easily missed, because we can be focused on the goal to the neglect of the journey.

“Disciple” is a familiar word in Christian culture but can be misunderstood out of its 1st century context. First let’s establish that the word is not interchangeable with  ”apostle”. An apostle is one who is “sent out” while a disciple tends to stay put. A disciple is understood in this time period in the context of a relationship to a rabbi or teacher, it’s about a “total immersion” experience for both teacher and student.

I took 3 years of French in high school while all my friends took Spanish. Did I do so because I’m more clever than them? No, I took French because the class was almost entirely female and I was a teenage boy, it seemed like simple math to me. Over the years my French eroded for lack of practice but I sometimes debate doing a total immersion weekend where I would be thrust into a classroom with a teacher and others where nothing but French would be spoken all weekend. If I couldn’t ask to go to the restroom or for a meal in French, well …

• The relationship between a rabbi and his disciples in this historical context was one of total immersion – it was intense and short. Disciples and rabbis traveled, ate and slept together as a pack.
• A disciple was picked by a rabbi, not vice versa.
• A disciple would submit their will entirely to the authority of their rabbi.
• The focus of this group was the Word of God, in this context, the Old Testament. They would sometimes debate minor issues and compare interpretations of various scholars for weeks at a time, not focused on the resolution of the debate but rather on the methodology of considering the issue. To achieve this result, a rabbi would answer a question with a question or use illustrative stories (parables)  to encourage thought process and not just conclusion. You can see this pedagogy illustrated in Mark 3:20-30 when Jesus is accused of being of “Beezlebub” after casting demons out of a man.

Mike and I seek to emulate this learning model along with you. We will spend weeks presenting ideas on the topic of The Men Jesus Called in an intense but short burst of interaction once per week featuring introductory videos by Mike and blog posts by me. We seek to follow Jesus’ model in the context of modern technology, joining hands with people from all over the world in  a way that is entirely new for the purpose of reaping a result that is ancient, that is, a rabbinic, Christ-like way of interacting and changing lives.

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• Casting Call
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