Reading The Bible With Rabbi Jesus By Lois TverbergShembull

Day Two: Western Eyes on Eastern Texts

As Westerners, we often have trouble understanding the Middle Eastern reality of Jesus and the biblical world. We formulate ideas as our Greek cultural ancestors did, not as the biblical Hebrews of Jesus’ world and heritage did. We think in abstractions and find proof-based logical argument to be more convincing than the parables Jesus used. As children of the Enlightenment, we have seen the power of human reason conquer the physical world and are convinced that human reason is the measure of all things. Science is the final proof of truth in our way of thinking. 

We also don’t sustain ourselves on the land by working alongside family through seasons of planting and harvest. Jesus’ frequent parables about fishermen and farmers don’t evoke a visceral response in us, as they did in his agrarian world. 

Most of us are relatively “rich” in that we have easy access to food and housing and feel somewhat secure about our future, or at least our survival. We rarely rely on community the way people did in Jesus’ time.

Finally, we are used to government being “by the people, for the people,” and we place a strong emphasis on individualism and independence. We define ourselves in terms of our rights and freedoms.

By contrast, much of the world doesn’t see personal autonomy as an important value. Rather, they view people principally as members of groups—families, tribes, and nations—that make strong claims on the people’s loyalty. What defines you are your relationships, and what orders your life are your responsibilities to others, not your personal freedom to do what you like. No wonder we read Scripture with different eyes than those in Jesus’ culture did—and that much of the world still does!

As you learn more about Jesus’ world, try to mentally place yourself in that reality long enough to look around and see its internal logic. Resonate with the people who were there and read the Bible through their eyes. Then bring it back to your own world. Biblical truths are timeless. Sometimes to uncover those truths, we need to understand more of how and why they were presented in a certain way.

You’ll find a feast waiting for you as you read Scripture with a deeper understanding of the times in which it was written. 

What aspects of our culture would you say separate us most from the biblical world?