Mobile Ed: NT390 Jesus as Rabbi: The Jewish Context of the Life of Jesus (8 hour course)

Course Outline

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: The Rabbis

• Diversity in Judaism
• Evidence for Jewish Life
• The Nature of Oral Texts
• The Schools of Hillel and Shammai
• Preserving and Editing the Tradition
• Significance of the Rabbinic Traditions
• Who Were the Rabbis?
• Unification after 70 CE
• Fragmented Judaism in the First Century
• The Influence of the Rabbis in New Testament Times

Unit 2: Rabbinic Literature

• What Is Rabbinic Literature?
• The Collections
• Navigating Halakic Material
• The Rabbis of Rabbinic Literature
• Dating the Rabbinic Materials
• An Example: What Can Be Carried on the Sabbath
• Key Scholars of the Tradition

Unit 3: Jesus in the Talmud

• Printing and Censorship
• The Printed Talmud
• Censored Passages
• Censored Arrest Warrant
• Dating the Talmudic Tradition about Jesus
• Analyzing Textual Clues
• Digging into the Trial Traditions
• Correcting the Historical Core
• The Origin of the Tradition

Unit 4: Jesus’ Halakic Teaching

• Comparing the Teaching of Jesus and the Rabbis
• Disciples of Jesus the Rabbi
• The Disciple Copies the Master
• Traits of Nonacademic Disciples
• Jesus’ Halakic Teaching on Clean and Unclean
• Jesus’ Public and Private Teaching
• Parallels between Jesus and Yohanan ben Zakkai
• Jesus on Corban
• Jesus in Translation
• Jesus’ Halakah
• Conclusion: Jesus and Halakah

Unit 5: Jesus’ Commandments

• The Law and Layers of Tradition
• The Fence around the Law
• Jesus’ Two Commandments
• The Yoke of the Kingdom
• The Yoke of Commandments and the Early Church
• Laws That Jesus Kept
• “But I Tell You …”
• Jesus and the Sabbath
• Laws That Jesus Rejected
• Fulfilling the Law

Unit 6: Jesus’ Haggadic Teaching

• First-Century Sermons
• Jesus’ Sermon at Nazareth
• Identifying the Links in Jesus’ Sermon
• Parables
• Rabbinic Parable about Legalism
• A Parable Jesus Heard
• Moral or Spiritual Sayings
• Sayings in Mishnah Avot

Unit 7: Jesus’ Jewish Prayers

• The Value of Studying Prayers
• Prayer in Judaism
• The Oldest Amidah
• The Text of the Amidah
• The Amidah in Temple Worship
• New Testament Allusions to the Amidah
• The “Blessing” for the Heretics
• The Shorter Abstract of the Amidah
• The Lord’s Prayer
• God as Father
• Daily Bread
• Demanding Forgiveness
• Tempting and Testing
• Forever and Ever

Unit 8: Sin and Salvation

• Is Sin Important?
• The Idea of Sin in the Gospels
• John’s Baptism
• Day of Atonement
• The Unforgivable Sin
• Being Brought to Repentance
• Forgiving Others
• Jesus’ Teaching on Hell
• Three Groups at Judgment
• Hell according to the Qumran Group
• Jesus’ Distinctive Teaching on Hell
• Jesus’ Two Ways

Unit 9: Jesus’ Miracles & Exorcisms

• Healings and Miracles in the Ancient World
• Miracles and Gullibility
• Jewish Miracle Workers
• Contrasts with Jesus’ Healings
• Feeding Thousands
• First-Century Jewish Etiquette
• Tithing Bread
• Exorcisms in Jewish Literature
• Exorcisms of Jesus
• Exorcisms by Others
• Exorcisms after the New Testament

Unit 10: Jesus’ Festival Visits

• Festivals in First-Century Judaism
• Jesus’ First Festival
• Jesus at the Festival of Tabernacles
• Water and Light at Tabernacles
• Palm Sunday
• Did Jesus Keep Passover?
• The Timing of Passover in the Gospels
• Evidence for Two Passovers
• Jesus’ Passover Meal

Conclusion

• Summary of the Course