Most of the time, rabbis, or sages, were ordinary people who practiced some kind of trade-farmers, shoemakers, carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths, or woodcutters. Their work was often seasonal, leaving them free to travel and teach at other times of the year.

Rabbi, a Hebrew word, is literally translated "my great one", and it can also be translated as "my master" or "my teacher." In the early first century, it was used to honor someone who acted as a teacher of the Torah. Rabbouni is an expanded Hebrew form that means "my rabbi. "Some decades after Jesus' time, "rabbi" became a more formalized title.

Unlike most rabbis, who merely taught what they had learned from another rabbi, Jesus taught with his own authority, as though his wisdom came from above-a fact remarked upon by many who heard him. Jesus counseled his disciples never to seek the honorific title "rabbi." He alone was to be their Teacher and Master.

Another word for teacher in the New Testament is the Greek word didaskolos. Jesus was an enormously popular teacher who drew crowds wherever he went, using questions, discussions, proverbs, symbolic actions, parables, and even miracles in order to teach people the way to live. The content of his teaching is most powerfully and eloquently evident in the story of his life.

Praying to Rabbi, Rabbouni Have you ever tried learning a foreign language? During graduate school, I took a six-week intensive course in Latin. We were supposed to master the equivalent of two years of college Latin in a mere six weeks. The course requirements were so daunting that half the students dropped out on the first day. One classmate later remarked that oranges had become his favorite fruit. Why? Because it takes time to peel an orange, time during which he didn't have to study Latin!

Anything worth mastering takes both time and effort. Remarkably, during the first century, ordinary people spent enormous amounts of time devoutly studying the Scripture.

Jesus, of course, was a well-known rabbi in the early first century. But how does this facet of his life affect us two thousand years later? Think of it this way. Jesus instructs us by acting something like a Rosetta stone for God.a The Rosetta stone, you may remember, was an ancient Egyptian artifact that was inscribed with three translations of a single official text-two Egyptian language scripts and one classical Greek script. Its discovery enabled scholars to decode the mysterious meaning of hieroglyphic writing.

Similarly, Jesus enables us to understand the mysterious God of the Old Testament more clearly. Without him, we might come away from our reading of Scripture with a confused notion about who God is. Is he angry and vengeful or forgiving and loving? Through his words, his miracles, and the example of his life, Jesus teaches us who God really is and how we can come into a relationship with him.

The next time you are tempted to despair of God's love or mercy or to doubt his faithfulness, think about Jesus and the life that he modeled. For it is only in looking at Jesus that we begin to see the true face of God.

Jesus, you are my Lord and Rabbi. Teach me how to live as your faithful follower. Help me to study not merely the text of your words, but also the text of your life.

Promises Associated with the Name RABBI, RABBOUNI.

Make your ways known to me, O Yahweh, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me because you are Elohim, my savior. I wait all day long for you. (Psalm 25:4-5) If you love me, you will obey my commandments. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. That helper is the Spirit of Truth. (John 14:15-17)

Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet 13 1 Before the Passover festival, Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Yeshua loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them to the end.

2 While supper was taking place, the devil had already put the idea of betraying Yeshua into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.

3 The Father had put everything in Yeshua's control. Yeshua knew that. He also knew that he had come from God and was going back to God. 4 So he got up from the table, removed his outer clothes, took a towel, and tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel that he had tied around his waist.

6 When Yeshua came to Simon Peter, Peter asked him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

7 Yeshua answered Peter, "You don't know now what I'm doing. You will understand later."

8 Peter told Yeshua, "You will never wash my feet."

Yeshua replied to Peter, "If I don't wash you, you don't belong to me."

9 Simon Peter said to Yeshua, "Lord, don't wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head too!"

10 Yeshua told Peter, "People who have washed are completely clean. They need to have only their feet washed. All of you, except for one, are clean." 11 (Yeshua knew who was going to betray him. That's why he said, "All of you, except for one, are clean.") 12 After Yeshua had washed their feet and put on his outer clothes, he took his place at the table again. Then he asked his disciples, "Do you understand what I've done for you? 13 You call me teacher and Lord, and you're right because that's what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you must wash each other's feet. 15 I've given you an example that you should follow. 16 I can guarantee this truth: Slaves are not superior to their owners, and messengers are not superior to the people who send them. 17 If you understand all of this, you are blessed whenever you follow my example.

18 "I'm not talking about all of you. I know the people I've chosen to be apostle. However, I've made my choice so that Scripture will come true. It says, 'The one who eats my bread has turned against me.' 19 I'm telling you now before it happens. Then, when it happens, you will believe that I am the one.

20 "I can guarantee this truth: Whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."

Jesus Knows Who Will Betray Him-Matthew 26:21-25; Mark 14:18-21; Luke 22:21-23 21 After saying this, Yeshua was deeply troubled. He declared, "I can guarantee this truth: One of you is going to betray me!"

22 The disciples began looking at each other and wondering which one of them Yeshua meant.

23 One disciple, the one whom Yeshua loved, was near him at the table. 24 Simon Peter motioned to that disciple and said, "Ask Yeshua whom he's talking about!"

25 Leaning close to Yeshua, that disciple asked, "Lord, who is it?"

26 Yeshua answered, "He's the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I've dipped it in the sauce." So Yeshua dipped the bread and gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.

27 Then, after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Yeshua told him, "Hurry! Do what you have to do." 28 No one at the table knew why Yeshua said this to him. 29 Judas had the moneybag. So some thought that Yeshua was telling him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the poor.

30 Judas took the piece of bread and immediately went outside. It was night.

31 When Judas was gone, Yeshua said, "The Son of Man is now glorified, and because of him God is glorified. 32 If God is glorified because of the Son of Man, God will glorify the Son of Man because of himself, and he will glorify the Son of Man at once."

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial-Matthew 26:31-35; Mark 14:27-31; Luke 22:31-34 33 Yeshua said, "Dear children, I will still be with you for a little while. I'm telling you what I told the Jews. You will look for me, but you can't go where I'm going.

34 "I'm giving you a new commandment: Love each other in the same way that I have loved you. 35 Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other."

36 Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?"

Yeshua answered him, "You can't follow me now to the place where I'm going. However, you will follow me later."

37 Peter said to Yeshua, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I'll give my life for you."

38 Yeshua replied, "Will you give your life for me? I can guarantee this truth: No rooster will crow until you say three times that you don't know me.

Jesus Promises to Send the Holy Spirit 14 1 "Don't be troubled. Believe in God, and believe in me. 2 My Father's house has many rooms. If that were not true, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. Then I will bring you into my presence so that you will be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way?"

6 Yeshua answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will also know my Father. From now on you know him through me and have seen him in me."

8 Philip said to Yeshua, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us."

9 Yeshua replied, "I have been with all of you for a long time. Don't you know me yet, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I'm telling you doesn't come from me. The Father, who lives in me, does what he wants. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me because of the things I do.

12 "I can guarantee this truth: Those who believe in me will do the things that I am doing. They will do even greater things because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do anything you ask the Father in my name so that the Father will be given glory because of the Son. 14 If you ask me to do something, I will do it.

15 "If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. 17 That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn't see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

18 "I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live.20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. 21 Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father's love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them."

22 Judas (not Iscariot) asked Yeshua, "Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?"

23 Yeshua answered him, "Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. 24 A person who doesn't love me doesn't do what I say. I don't make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

25 "I have told you this while I'm still with you. 26 However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.

27 "I'm leaving you peace. I'm giving you my peace. I don't give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don't be troubled or cowardly. 28 You heard me tell you, 'I'm going away, but I'm coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I'm going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

29 "I'm telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe. 30 The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he's coming, so I won't talk with you much longer. 31 However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave."

Jesus, the True Vine 15 1 Then Yeshua said, "I am the true vine, and my Father takes care of the vineyard. 2 He removes every one of my branches that doesn't produce fruit. He also prunes every branch that does produce fruit to make it produce more fruit.

3 "You are already cleana because of what I have told you. 4 Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay attached to the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit unless you live in me.

5 "I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can't produce anything without me. 6 Whoever doesn't live in me is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Branches like this are gathered, thrown into a fire, and burned. 7 If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours. 8 You give glory to my Father when you produce a lot of fruit and therefore show that you are my disciples.

9 "I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. 10 If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father's commandments, and in that way I live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. 12 Love each other as I have loved you. This is what I'm commanding you to do. 13 The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends. 14 You are my friends if you obey my commandments. 15 I don't call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. But I've called you friends because I've made known to you everything that I've heard from my Father. 16 You didn't choose me, but I chose you. I have appointed you to go, to produce fruit that will last, and to ask the Father in my name to give you whatever you ask for. 17 Love each other. This is what I'm commanding you to do.

18 "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you had anything in common with the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But you don't have anything in common with the world. I chose you from the world, and that's why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: A servant isn't greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they did what I said, they will also do what you say. 21 Indeed, they will do all this to you because you are committed to me, since they don't know the one who sent me. 22 If I hadn't come and spoken to them, they wouldn't have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 The person who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn't done among them what no one else has done, they wouldn't have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 In this way what is written in their Scriptures has come true: 'They hate me for no reason.'

26 "The helper whom I will send to you from the Father will come. This helper, the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, will declare the truth about me. 27 You will declare the truth, too, because you have been with me from the beginning."

Sadness Will Turn to Joy 16 1 Yeshua continued, "I have said these things to you so that you won't lose your faith. 2 You will be thrown out of synagogues. Certainly, the time is coming when people who murder you will think that they are serving God. 3 They will do these things to you because they haven't known the Father or me. 4 But I've told you this so that when it happens you'll remember what I've told you. I didn't tell you this at first, because I was with you.

5 "Now I'm going to the one who sent me. Yet, none of you asks me where I'm going. 6 But because I've told you this, you're filled with sadness. 7 However, I am telling you the truth: It's good for you that I'm going away. If I don't go away, the helper won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 He will come to convict the world of sin, to show the world what has God's approval, and to convince the world that God judges it. 9 He will convict the world of sin, because people don't believe in me. 10 He will show the world what has God's approval, because I'm going to the Father and you won't see me anymore. 11 He will convince the world that God judges it, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

12 "I have a lot more to tell you, but that would be too much for you now. 13 When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth. He won't speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come. 14 He will give me glory, because he will tell you what I say. 15 Everything the Father says is also what I say. That is why I said, 'He will take what I say and tell it to you.'

16 "In a little while you won't see me anymore. Then in a little while you will see me again."

17 Some of his disciples said to each other, "What does he mean? He tells us that in a little while we won't see him. Then he tells us that in a little while we will see him again and that he's going to the Father." 18 So they were asking each other, "What does he mean when he says, 'In a little while'? We don't understand what he's talking about."

19 Yeshua knew they wanted to ask him something. So he said to them, "Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you won't see me, and in a little while you will see me again'? 20 I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness. 21 A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes. But after the child is born, she doesn't remember the pain anymore because she's happy that a child has been brought into the world.

22 "Now you're in a painful situation. But I will see you again. Then you will be happy, and no one will take that happiness away from you. 23 When that day comes, you won't ask me any more questions. I can guarantee this truth: If you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. 24 So far you haven't asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive so that you can be completely happy.

25 "I have used examples to illustrate these things. The time is coming when I won't use examples to speak to you. Rather, I will speak to you about the Father in plain words. 26 When that day comes, you will ask for what you want in my name. I'm telling you that I won't have to ask the Father for you. 27 The Father loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I left the Father and came into the world. Again, as I've said, I'm going to leave the world and go back to the Father."

29 His disciples said, "Now you're talking in plain words and not using examples. 30 Now we know that you know everything. You don't need to wait for questions to be asked. Because of this, we believe that you have come from God."

31 Yeshua replied to them, "Now you believe. 32 The time is coming, and is already here, when all of you will be scattered. Each of you will go your own way and leave me all alone. Yet, I'm not all alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I've told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you'll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world."

FRIEND.

Jesus is not only Lord and Master but the greatest of all friends, who willingly proved his friendship by his death on the cross. By this costly gesture, he has won the friendship of millions of men and women from across the earth and throughout the centuries.

The Hebrew word Ahab (Ay-HAB) means "friend." The Greek word philos (FEE-los) means "friend" or "relative." Occurring twenty-eight times in the New Testament, it is also used to describe the close relationship that exists among believers, related to each other by virtue of their faith in Jesus. This word is related to phileo, the most general term for "to love" in the New Testament, and to the word philema, which means "a kiss." In fact, the early Christians used to greet each other with a holy kiss, signifying their close relationship.

John's Gospel indicates that Jesus called his disciples his friends. Unlike most men of his day, Jesus had both male and female friends.

Luke addressed his Gospel to someone named Theophilus, a proper name meaning "friend of God. "The designation "friends" has survived as another name for those who belong to the religious group known as Quakers.

Praying to Our Friend It was late on a steamy summer night. I was on the phone talking with a friend when a shadow suddenly swooped across the living room." Sandy, there's a bat in the house. Gotta go!" I slammed down the phone and escaped to the kitchen, out of the line of fire.

I'd spent $500 on bat mitigation a year earlier and now I had another one in the house. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed. I crawled back into the living room, managing to turn on most of the lights, hoping the brightness would immobilize the bat. No luck.

Then I grabbed a towel and started swatting. Suddenly the creature headed upstairs. Afraid it might enter one of the children's bedrooms, I prayed again, "Jesus, won't you please help me!" I ran to the windows, raised the blinds, and removed the screens, hoping desperately that the bat would swoop down the stairs and fly out. No luck.

What should I do? By then the bat was back in the living room. I sprinted to the basement, grabbed a blanket, and headed back onto the field of battle. "God, I don't know what to do. Please help me get rid of this bat!" I made numerous attempts to throw the blanket over the creature. No luck.

By now I was sweating profusely, wondering what I must look like to anyone driving by-a crazed woman standing in the middle of her living room swinging her arms around wildly for no particular reason.

Just then the doorbell rang. My heart skipped a beat. Who could possibly be standing at my door at 10:30 at night? Hoping it wasn't the local ax murderer, I looked out the window. There on my front porch, to my surprise and delight, was my friend Sandy.

"Where's the bat?" she asked as soon as she saw me. "Let's prop the door open. Maybe it will fly out." With that she strode confidently into the house.

"There it is!" She pointed to a dark, furry mass clinging to the top of the window covering. "Isn't he cute? Do you have a towel or something I can use to grab him with?"

As my brave, if demented (remember she said the bat was cute), friend snatched at the bat, it swooped across the living room one last time and then soared out the front door!

What a friend! Sandy had saved me from a heart attack and my children from rabies and certain death! Later I learned that she had been dressed for bed when we had been talking on the phone. When Sandy realized what I was dealing with, she got dressed, drove over to my house, and then valiantly drove the fiend away.

Most of the time I pride myself on being able to handle things. But my self-reliance crumbles pretty quickly whenever a bat enters the picture. In the midst of my fear, I had been praying, asking Jesus to help me. And Jesus did help. He showed his friendship by sending one of his close friends and mine to come to the rescue.

Jesus, thank you for your friendship, for delivering us and for hearing our prayers. Thank you, too, for linking us together with so many of your friends throughout the world. Because of you, we are not alone.

Promises Associated with the Name FRIEND.

A friend always loves, and a brother is born to share trouble. (Proverbs 17:17) Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the sweetness of a friend is a fragrant forest. (Proverbs 27:9) I don't call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. But I've called you friends because I've made known to you everything that I've heard from my Father. (John 15:15)