The Joy of Reading: New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin

Over the course of the last month I have been able to do something I have not had time to do in . . . well, longer than I can remember. After the completion of my January term class and the literature review assigned I had the privilege of reading books I wanted to read. Here are the books I read:

New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin

Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick (I sort-of know him)

Youth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry by Houston Heflin

Deep Ministry in a Shallow World by Chap Clark and Kara E. Powell

Sustainable Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries

The first book is an excellent read! If you are not familiar with David Bivin you should look him up. His take on Jesus’ words, teachings, sayings, and the biblical text is incredible. He lived and worked in Jerusalem for more than forty years studying with both Christian and Jewish scholars. He has carefully studied Jewish culture, history, language, and a host of other things. While the book is sprinkled with tons of interesting insights and I could go on for pages I’ll just mention a few things you may find of interest.

1. Many people suggest that Jesus was not a Rabbi; however, countless passages in scripture suggest otherwise. Furthermore, all kinds of people addressed Jesus as “Rabbi.” As Bivin points out in the text, “a lawyer, rich man, Pharisees, Sadducees, and regular people address Jesus by such a title” (9). In addition to the title Jesus’ lifestyle was consistent with the “normal” rabbi’s of his time. Rabbi’s, or itinerant rabbi’s, were travelers. They were like itinerant preachers today. They traveled around from place to place teaching. Their disciples followed--being “covered in the dust of their rabbi” (13-14). And many rabbi’s also had trade skills---like carpentry, fishing, tent making, etc. Pretty interesting, huh? This concept totally slams what Roy Zuck claims in his book, Teaching as Jesus Taught (however, it is a good book as far as Christian Ed. is concerned).

2. We Christians often bless our food . . . This custom that we believe has been borrowed from Judaism and Jesus is flawed. Offering a blessing before meals has been customary for centuries; however, blessing the food is new. Bivin points out that the original custom was to bless God by stating, “bless the One who provides the food” (46). Our blessing of the food we eat is just one of the many ways we have misunderstood and misinterpreted a Jewish custom. So, the next time you sit down to eat--think about what you are doing and why you are doing it. Blessing food is not a biblical concept. Blessing the One who provided the food---that is more like it.

3. If you know Jewish practices well you know that followers of Judaism are supposed to pray daily. A central Jewish prayer is know as the Eighteen, or more formally as Shemoneh Esreh, or Amidah, or Tefillah (59). However, some rabbi’s would give their worshippers a shortened version of the eighteen for times when it was not possible to complete the full prayer (however, a fluent Hebrew-speaking Jew could complete the prayer in about five-ten minutes) (59). Nonetheless, it may be quite feasible that Jesus offered an abbreviated version for his followers as well. We call it: The Lord’s Prayer. After reviewing the information Bivin offers in the book, including the full Eighteen prayer, I am fairly convinced of this premise. I wish I had discovered this information several years ago when my church focused VBS on the Lord’s Prayer. I believe the learning experience would have been greatly enriched for the youth with this info.

Buy New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus
Check for the rest of the book overviews throughout the week!
 
--Megan