Week 2
To “Know” God: Part 2
Last week, we introduced the idea of Hebraic ways of knowing, or yāḏa. Israel's understanding of knowing God was intimate, personal, and deeply connected. During Jesus' earthly ministry, he reintroduced the Jews to this intimacy with God through his intimate knowledge of Scripture (Mt. 4:1-11, 22:41-46; Lk. 2:42, 46-47; Lk. 4:1-13), his prayer life (Mt. 4:1-2; Lk. 5:15-16, 9:28, 11:2-4; Jn. 17), and living with his disciples (Jn. 14:1, 18, 14:1-2, 16:21). It is through Jesus’ example we can gain insight into how we disciple our kids.
I suggest that Jesus followed God’s original model for discipleship as laid out in Torah: the Shema.
The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 lays out a type of educational system, or model, for family discipleship that’s worth looking at:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Shema means “to listen and obey.” Essentially, God expected Israel to hear his commands and obey them. All of God’s commands point to obedience out of love and reverence for God (more on that later!).
Look at his immediate commands here:
- Part 1: love God with everything in you
- Part 2: prioritize your relationship with him first
- Part 3: teach his Word to your children
But, HOW?!
- vs. 7b: talk about God as a way of life and as part of your family culture and rhythms
o at home as you live together
o in public as you go about your business
o at bedtime as the last thing you encounter before sleep
o in the morning as the first thing you experience when you wake
- vs. 8: have God’s Word in front of you all the time and memorize it
- vs. 9: have God’s Word displayed around your home in all the places you spend your time
The plan is laid out for us so simply!
So, how do we see this played out in the life of Jesus?
Part 1: Jesus was/is the embodiment of love (Ro. 5:8; 1Jn. 4:7-12). He gave his all so we could be reconciled to God (Ro. 5:8-11; Col. 1:20-22; 2 Cor. 5:17-21). We are his disciples and evidence of how effective it is to love God first, above all else.
Part 2: Jesus made time with his Heavenly Father a priority (Mt. 14:13, 23; Mk. 1:35, 6:46-47; Lk. 4:42, 5:16; Jn. 6:15). It looked different in different seasons of his earthly ministry. Sometimes, it required sitting in a boat in the middle of the sea! Jesus also knew Torah and used it to fight temptation, refute the lies of his enemies, and provide comfort to his followers (Mt. 4:4-10, 8, 9, 11:10, 21:13; Mk. 7:6, 11:17; Lk. 4:4, 8, 10, 21, 7:27, 19:46, 20:17; John 6:31, 45, 8:17, 10:34, 12:14, 16, 15:25).
Part 3: Jesus taught the 12 disciples and the crowds in many different ways! Imagine that Jesus knew education theory and learning styles before we knew they existed! This site provides some great insights into how Jesus taught. While it is directed to pastors, consider how you might use it to teach your kids at home![1]
Every family is made up differently, with different members, stories, histories, and “stuff.” Too often, we want an easy-button solution that magically fixes our broken stories and mistakes, quickly turning our kids to Jesus. Let me know if this sounds familiar. “If I had the right plan, I know I could get our family on the right track. The Jones are doing ___________, and they’re thriving. We’ll do that, and then we’ll be ok.”
The problem is that there’s no easy button in discipleship. It’s a “long obedience in the same direction” towards the prize of eternity with Jesus.[2] A life of discipleship is a journey of continually growing deeper in our yāḏa of God (our intimate knowledge, covenant relationship). Leading our kids on this journey will require a lot more from us than we’ve probably considered before. Not only are we Pauls and Eunices, trying to connect the next generation to the God of our fathers, we’re also Timothys and Marys, learning and growing in our own faith.
But where does it all begin? What does our yāḏa look like in our everyday lives? Where is the sweet spot of discipleship where we’re leading and following? What do we believe? What do we do with that belief? Where do we begin?
Our understanding and knowledge of God are based in the place where our right beliefs, right actions, and right affections connect (see below). In some circles, discipleship is summed up as “head, hands, heart.” In this series, we’ll explore this idea of wholly discipled families through the lens of yāḏa (a dig into this diagram!) as we seek to deepen our relationship with God and lead our kids toward that more profound relationship with him as well.
[1] https://research.lifeway.com/2014/03/10/6-preaching-methods-jesus-used-that-you-should-too/ [2] Check out Eugene Peterson’s book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society to dig into this idea more deeply.
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