The Authority of a Rabbi (3 of 4)

Shane Willard

Page 6 of 9
Samson was sleeping with prostitutes on his wedding night, because he got depressed, because his best man stole his wife. Hero of the faith, because when God steps in on a person's life, He restores their life.

Solomon had 1,000 women; and God said: I'll use you to write the book on wisdom.

David had 700 women - and still went and got the one he couldn't have - committed adultery and premeditated murder. He didn't just murder one man. The Bible says that 18 men lost their lives that day, from him trying to kill one. He killed 18 men in one day, trying to cover up his sin, but he got the woman pregnant. He kills 18 men trying to cover up that sin - and he ends up marrying her.

If CNN and the internet were around back then, what would your yoke have said? My yoke says: you cut him off. It did! God restored David, and used him to write the Bible - but we think we're good enough to say: you're not good enough to preach what God said you could write? I sat in my room and I became broken, because I realised that my yoke was different than the yoke of my Rabbi.

I said I was a ‘disciple of Jesus Christ’, but you've got to understand that Hebraically, you're only a disciple of the rabbi who's yoke you follow. How many times did Jesus say: they will know you're my disciple, by keeping My commands? The yoke of our Rabbi.

Peter denied Him three times in open court, and cursed His name so bad that the Roman soldiers blushed. Five days later, Jesus is cooking breakfast for him on the beach, and didn't even bring the sin up. He just said: do you love Me? That's the yoke of our Rabbi.

There's this one place where Jesus was between customers, and so He visits this prostitute. This Pharisee was following Him around, and thought to himself: this man can't be the messiah, because He should know that this woman is unclean. What is He thinking - being the guest of a sinner?

Then it gets worse, because the lady bends down, and cries on Jesus' feet; and takes her hair, and begins to wipe His feet with her hair.

The Pharisee says: I can't believe this!

Jesus, knowing his thought, looked at him and said: go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. That's the yoke of our Rabbi.

The yoke of our Rabbi took all 12 men who deserted Him (11 of the 12, since one killed himself) - and restored them the next week to ministry, because He believed in them that much. That's the yoke of our Rabbi.

In Matthew 16, Jesus went to Caesarea Philippi, which was the headquarters to the goat-god Pan. In the middle of Caesarea Philippi, there was this mountain; and they built the temple to the goat god Pan at the top of this mountain, because they wanted the temple to be at the highest point of the city.

When they built the temple to the goat god Pan, it actually cracked the mountain; from the top of the mountain, all the way down to the road, and then it cracked the road.

So for 24hrs/day, 7 days/week, there was steam coming up from the crack in the road - and the people of Caesarea Philippi believed that it was the entrance and the exit to hell. They believed that if you didn't worship Pan properly, he would open up the gates of hell, and swallow you into it.

The problem was, Pan was a goat-god, and he received worship through intimate acts with goats! So 24 hours/day, there were people all around on the public street, being intimate with goats, in worship to Pan. Jesus took His youth group there!

He said: look around. Who do you say that I am? Peter says something like: You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus says: that's right, and upon this rock we'll build a church, and not even the gates of hell will prevail against it.