Jesus is called a “rabbi” several times in the New Testament,* a word that means “teacher.” In our culture today, “rabbi” refers to someone trained professionally for religious leadership in a synagogue, but at the time of Jesus, the term was one of dignity given by the Jews to their spiritual teachers. Jewish rabbis at the time of Jesus were encouraged not to teach or even speak with women. Jewish wisdom literature says that “he that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna [hell].”7 With this as the general
...more
