Which came first-the chicken, or the yoke?

The chicken came first. Without the chicken, there is no yoke. Oh, and the chicken is a Rabbi. Are you following?

Here are a couple things to know:

• The Bible is difficult-read Joshua 6, Ephesians 5, and loads of other passages. After you've read them, actually think about them. Innocent people dying? God telling people to kill? The roles of a husband and a wife in a marriage? Yea, the Bible is difficult. Not to mention that many people take the Bible out of context to prove their point. Did I mention that it is rather easy to take the Bible out of context? Think about the cults, crazy extremist religious groups, and racially motivated criminals that have used the Bible to "prove" their point. Yup, the Bible is difficult.
• A Rabbi's job was to study the Torah, meditate over it's words, and pray to God that He would give him the guidance and meaning of what he was reading. He was then to take this to his people and teach them. Remember, there was no printing press when Jesus was around. Not a lot of people had printed copies of scripture. (Shame-I have probably 20 Bibles in my office right now. Want one? Let me know). What a Rabbi interpreted from God's word was called his yoke. If you felt what a Rabbi had to say was right on, you'd follow him. If not, you'd follow another guy. I guess you could follow no-one though. Think they were called agnostics back then?
  
• If you failed at following the yoke of your Rabbi, he would tell you that you had abolished the Torah. If you succeeded he would tell you that you had fulfilled the Torah. Now remember, it isn't the Rabbi's words you are following. It is God's words that you are following. They just happen to be coming to you through the Rabbi who has interpreted them in a certain way. (Is it the right way though?)
  
• Jesus was a Rabbi. He was one of those new guys with a new yoke. New yokes were taken with a bit of skepticism at that time. Much like new churches can be today. Jesus had some pretty persuasive words about his yoke though. Check out Matthew 11:30. I'd be tempted to listen if someone told me it was easy! Anyhow, to be a Rabbi that was taken seriously, two other Rabbi's had to lay their hands on you. Jesus had hands laid on him by John the Baptist and who was that other guy? Oh yea, it was God's voice booming from heaven. Sweet. (Matthew 3: 13-17). Jesus was "accredited" if you will.
  
• Here is where it gets really interesting. Remember how I said that Rabbi's would tell their followers the abolished the Torah and fulfilled the Torah thing? Well, Jesus wanted to make sure that people didn't think He was on earth just to mess things up. So, he used their cultural language at the time and said something pretty comforting. Check it out: Matthew 5:17. It gets better though. Rabbi's also would tell their followers (the ones that had a really good grasp on living the way God desired) that they were allowed to bind and loose. (Look those words up for their Biblical context). In other words, they were allowed to try to decipher what scripture meant; specifically, what it meant to them. When a Rabbi thought that one of his followers was ready for this, he would tell them that they had the keys to the kingdom. Now, check out what Rabbi Jesus says in Matthew 16:19 or 18:18. He is giving His followers the authority to interpret scripture. He was giving them the authority to figure out what scripture meant to them! I'm one of those followers. I get to read God's words and try to figure them out.
  
• Here is where it gets hard. Never did Jesus tell us that what we interpret is right. When we read God's word we have to be willing to know that we can be wrong with what we think about it. It's called humility. We also have to constantly be seeking truth. What does it mean for me to love my wife the way Christ loves the church? (Ephesians 5) What was God's purpose in destroying the city of Jericho? (Joshua 6) Was Esther forced to sleep with the king in order save God's followers? Because that seems backwards. (Esther) Remember, the Bible is difficult. If we are going to seek the truth from it though, we must be reading it. We must be meditating over it. We must be asking God for it's meaning to us right here and right now.
  

People have gotten the Bible wrong. I've gotten the Bible wrong. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. But I take hope in the fact that Jesus has given us the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. I'm following Christ's Yoke. The Bible is difficult. But if I'm going to follow God, I have to read it. If I'm going to follow God, I have to try and figure it out. If I'm going to follow God, I have to be willing to admit that I'm wrong. If I'm going to follow God, I have to earnestly pray that He'll help me interpret it in the way it was meant.

Are you really following the yoke of Christ? Are you really desiring the God show you truth in His word? Can you really say that Jesus has given you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven?

If you like what's in here-check out Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. It'll make you think even more than this did.