Living Blessed (1 of 9)
Series: Holy Semikah!
Joey Rodgers
Matthew 5:1-12
Holy Semikhah! Yes, I recognize this is going to take some explaining, but I’m certain it’ll be worth it.
In seminary, my NT prof was infamous for giving 1/2 essays on the final: (1) Explain in detail the SOTM, or (2) Explain Paul’s (3) Missionary Journeys. Every semester, Dr. Corley would choose Paul’s journeys - so every student stopped preparing for the SOTM and only prepped for Paul’s journeys. Urban legend has it that one semester, Dr. Corley chose the SOTM, and every student but one failed the essay. Apparently, that guy apparently wrote, ‘‘Who am I to critique the greatest sermon ever preached; but let me tell you about Paul’s (3) missionary journeys.’’ And he passed.
This AM, I want to begin a series on the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. The SOTM was a concise, yet radical clarification of the Law/Prophets where Jesus defied every idea/belief long taught to the people to cut thru the fog of religion.
To get started, we need to have some understanding of semikhah. Often viewed as the ordination of a rabbi - to have semikhah was so much more. Tracing back to Moses, semikhah was to have a God-given authority in which a rabbi was set apart by God w/ a special anointing granting him the right to interpret/teach the Law/Prophets as he saw fit - w/ final authority.
In Jesus’ day, you had (2) kinds of Rabbis - those w/ semikhah and those w/out it. Those w/ authority and those who were the rank/file. If a rabbi had semikhah (none did), then he would’ve been given the power to interpret the Scriptures w/ final authority; while every other rabbi could only teach what their rabbi had taught them during their time as a talmudim (disciple).
NOW - when Jesus came on the scene, it’d been over 400+ yrs since the Israelites had seen/heard of a rabbi w/ semikhah - hence the relevance of verses 7:28-29.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, th ...
Series: Holy Semikah!
Joey Rodgers
Matthew 5:1-12
Holy Semikhah! Yes, I recognize this is going to take some explaining, but I’m certain it’ll be worth it.
In seminary, my NT prof was infamous for giving 1/2 essays on the final: (1) Explain in detail the SOTM, or (2) Explain Paul’s (3) Missionary Journeys. Every semester, Dr. Corley would choose Paul’s journeys - so every student stopped preparing for the SOTM and only prepped for Paul’s journeys. Urban legend has it that one semester, Dr. Corley chose the SOTM, and every student but one failed the essay. Apparently, that guy apparently wrote, ‘‘Who am I to critique the greatest sermon ever preached; but let me tell you about Paul’s (3) missionary journeys.’’ And he passed.
This AM, I want to begin a series on the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. The SOTM was a concise, yet radical clarification of the Law/Prophets where Jesus defied every idea/belief long taught to the people to cut thru the fog of religion.
To get started, we need to have some understanding of semikhah. Often viewed as the ordination of a rabbi - to have semikhah was so much more. Tracing back to Moses, semikhah was to have a God-given authority in which a rabbi was set apart by God w/ a special anointing granting him the right to interpret/teach the Law/Prophets as he saw fit - w/ final authority.
In Jesus’ day, you had (2) kinds of Rabbis - those w/ semikhah and those w/out it. Those w/ authority and those who were the rank/file. If a rabbi had semikhah (none did), then he would’ve been given the power to interpret the Scriptures w/ final authority; while every other rabbi could only teach what their rabbi had taught them during their time as a talmudim (disciple).
NOW - when Jesus came on the scene, it’d been over 400+ yrs since the Israelites had seen/heard of a rabbi w/ semikhah - hence the relevance of verses 7:28-29.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, th ...
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