Referenced Messianic Jewish Review Blog

The official blog of the Referenced Messianic Jewish Review. The Referenced Messianic Jewish Review studies the history, composition and theology of the Messianic Jewish movement.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Rabbi Jesus?

Increasingly, it has gotten popular for individuals in the Messianic movement to refer to Jesus as "Rabbi Jesus." However, if you understand what a rabbi is, calling Jesus as "Rabbi Jesus" actually nulifies basic Messianic-Christian belief. The title "Rabbi" is often loosely translated as "teacher." As stated, this is a loose translation. In Hebrew, the world "teacher" is "moreh", which comes from the same root as "Torah." The actual translation is that a rabbi is a person who has achieved a level of learning to be able to give rulings on Jewish law. It is a title that shows that a human has reached a level of knowledge of G-d's law. If Jesus was really G-d, why would he need the title of rabbi? After all, it is a title to designate a human level of understanding of G-d's law. G-d is All-Knowing and therefore does not need a rabbinical degree.

Moreover, rabbinical lineage starts with Moses ordaining Joshua, and proceeds from there into later times. To this day, some rabbis can still trace their rabbinical lineage back to Moses, identifying all of the rabbis in between. So who did Jesus study under? Who granted him rabbinical ordination, since ordination comes from people, not from G-d? And if Jesus reall is G-d, why does G-d need a human ordination? Overall, calling Jesus as "Rabbi Jesus" is another example of attempting to put Jewish clothes on Christianity that simply do not fit.

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