FEATURE
PART
II
TO BE LIKE
Discipleship and Biblical Spiritualit
In this five-part series, we will be exploring the meaning and method of disciple in ancient times and ask ourselves how we might live better lives as modern dis
Sin and Repentance: Broken on the Rock
I
n our last installment, we discovered that one of the foundations of worship in Jesus’ day had become the study of the Word of God as led by master teachers in the synagogue. Through the development and continuation of spiritual practices (see Nehemiah 8) and protection of the oracles of God (see Romans 3:1), the
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Alberta Adventist News
synagogue had preserved a system of master-student discipleship (rabbi-talmid), which protected the faith of the Jewish people and its future generations. However, this same system was prone to the human condition's failings, in that leaders and teachers could easily become headstrong, proud, and corrupted as
OCTOBER 2020
they were celebrated by their disciples and the community at large. Indeed, by Jesus' day, this was very much the case as we observe Jesus upbraiding the rabbis and rulers of the time (see Matthew 12:28–40; 23:15; Mark 12:40) while still upholding their teaching system (see Matthew 23:3). Indeed, Israel's spiritual leadership had so lost its
