We all know the Sermon on the Mount and have our own understanding of how things were,

the scene with Yshua and a great crowd, speaking from the mountain and everybody sat
there listening. Some of us had seen the movie and we all have
that scene etched in our minds of the Master speaking to the
multitudes. Was this really the case and did it happen as it is
portrayed in the movie or in our heads?
Lets track back some events prior to the Sermon on the Mount to
get a good starting point that will also clear out some
misconceptions. That Master had already done some teaching in
nearby Capernaum in the Synagogue on the previous Sabbath.
They have also heard Him teaching by the shore and have seen
some of His miracles and there was the miraculous catch of fish
already. He has healed Peters mother in law and after these
events the word has spread to the surrounding country and it is
no surprise that there was a great crowd who came to see the
miracle worker to hear Him teach.
Yshua was seen as a Rabbi, a teacher of Torah and a Rabbi normally supported himself
having some occupation or business but main function was to teach Torah. A Rabbi was not a
Priest although a Priest could be a Rabbi. This was not the case with Yshua, He was a
carpenter and He started His ministry as a Rabbi at the age of 30 after His initiation when
John baptised Him.

n those days, teachers of the Torah had dedicated students, professional students called
talmidim or disciples. It said in Scripture: when He saw the crowds, He went up on a
mountain. There are no mountains, there are only hills. The Hebrew word for mountain
and hill is the same word, it is the word har and it can mean hill or mountain. There was a
gentle little hillside by the sea of Galilee and you would ask yourself the question: why did He
leave the town to go to the hillside to teach? It says: He saw the crowds and went up on a
hillside. People would think that He said, hey all you people, come follow me, lets go to
the hillside!. No, it is actually the opposite that happened, He went to the hillside to get
away from the crowds. He went out to a remote place, a remote location to spend quality time
to teach His Disciples. This is the opposite of our expectation and He constantly sneaked
away from the crowds. We would say, Yshua come, start a church, you got thousands now,
come and do it. It was not everybody that followed Him to the hillside, the high place, no, it
was only the people that were interested in what He had to say who followed Him to hear Him
teach. This is a picture of us who have to leave the system and who have to FOLOW Him to
a higher place, a higher standard, and learn the details of His instructions so that you may
be His disciple. Are you willing to follow Him or are you part of the big crowd who are only
interested in His miracles? Many people will be deceived because they are miracle hunters
and are not interested in the Word of YHVH.
We would expect Yshua to stand up and begin to teach, just like a pastor goes up to the
pulpit to stand and bring a message. No, in those days, when a Rabbi went and sat down,
they knew that he is going to teach. We see this in the Gospels over and over, He went on a
boat and sat down, in the Synagogue he reads from the Scroll, sit down and began to teach.
This was the signal to His students or Disciples that He
was about to start to teach. When He sat down, His
Disciples came to Him and listen.

!
"
Long before the days of the Master, discipleship was
already a well-established institution within the Hebrew culture. All the great sages, the
rabbis, the teachers among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Torah had disciples.
Discipleship was the primary institution of higher-religious education in the days of the Master.
There were no Bible schools. There were no seminaries. A young man seeking a future in
teaching Torah would apprentice himself to a rabbi just as a would-be craftsmen would
apprentice himself to a known master in order to learn a trade. In this case, the trade was
Torah.

The Hebrew word for disciple is talmid. Talmid means "student." The plural is talmidim:
"students." We translate talmidim as "disciples." A talmid's job was to learn everything that his
Master had to teach. The Talmud is a written transcript of several centuries of that process.

isciples learned the stories that the teacher told. They learned the lessons that their
teacher taught. They learned to eat the foods that their teacher ate, the way their
teacher ate them. They learned to keep the Sabbath the way their teacher kept Sabbath
and to give charity the way their teacher gave charity. They learned how to keep YHVH'
s
commands the way their teacher kept them. In short, they learned the halakah (walk) of their
teacher. What could be better than to know the walk of our Master Yshua and to commit to
your memory, all of His Words?
Your teacher was seen as higher than your father because your father brought you into this
world, but your teacher will take you into the world to come. A disciple'
s job was to become
like his teacher. So it is written for us in the Gospel, "Every disciple fully trained will be like his
teacher." (Luke 6:40).
#
$
! " #

&
'

% $

&' (

$
(
)

In the First Century, the disciples of the Sages had four major tasks to perform. These tasks
describe the cultural context of the institution of discipleship in the Gospels.
1. To memorize their teacher's words. It was the job of a disciple to memorize his
teacher'
s words. The oral transmission process was the only intergenerational
communication practiced among the Sages. The great rabbis and Torah scholars of
First Century Pharisaic Judaism did not write scrolls or compose books for their
students to read and study. Instead, they taught orally and their disciples studied by
memorizing their words. Through constant repetition, disciples memorized their
teacher'
s words verbatim and were able to repeat them to subsequent generations.
) *

$
2. To learn their teacher's traditions and interpretations. It was a disciple'
s job to
learn the tradition of how his teacher kept the commands of YHVH and interpreted
the Scriptures. Every detail about the teacher was important to the disciple. The
disciple needed to learn how the teacher washed his hands, how he kept the
Sabbath, how he fasted, how he prayed, how he gave charity, how he affixed a
mezuzah, how he said the blessings over food, etc. Furthermore, the way the teacher
interpreted passages of Scripture, the meanings he drew out, the parables with which
he elucidated, the way he explained a verse or understood a concept, each of these
was of utmost importance to the disciple. Details of this sort were not just trivia. To a
disciple, these were like gems and pearls meant to be gathered and treasured. Are
traditions wrong? No, as long as they are in line with Scripture.
" !*
! ,
+
.

$
/

We have a Teacher and His Name is Yshua and we have His Spirit in our hearts
Who will interpret the Scripture to us and present to us His gems of wisdom and
knowledge that we need for our spiritual life.

"

We must learn from each other, those who are Sprit filled, and edify each other with
the Truth in meekness and patience. There will be people among you who are
anointed with the gift of teaching, listen to them and gain from their insight as
revealed by the Spirit of our Master to them, and to test everything against the
Scripture.
3. To imitate their teacher's actions. A disciple'
s highest calling was to be a reflection
of his teacher. A disciple studied to learn, to act, to speak and to respond the same
way his Master would act and speak and respond. A disciple studied to do the things
his Master did. His highest goal was to walk after his teacher, that is to carry on and
live out his teacher'
s halakah (art of walking). "Every disciple, fully trained will be like
his master." Do we do this today?
0

!1 -

",

'

)
)

$
%

&

$(

$(

4. To raise up disciples. Ever since the days of the Great Assembly when the Sages

were commanded, "Raise up many disciples" it was the job of a disciple, when finally
trained, to raise up his own disciples. He was to create a new generation of students
and to transmit to them the memorized words, traditions and interpretations and the
actions and behaviours of his Master. The goal was to pass the torch of Torah from
generation to generation.
2 3!
4
$

5
$%

'
$(
7# 8 ('

$
6
$
(#
(

$
$
&
'

&

#
$

$
(

At its simplest, discipleship is the art of imitation. It is the art of walking (halakhicly and
literally) after the teacher. When the disciple was fully
#
*
trained, he became the teacher and passed on the
,
teaching to disciples of his own, who in turn, when fully
.
trained became teachers and raised up disciples of their
own. Every disciple fully trained will be like his Master
and will be able to teach others in the teaching of his
/
Master. CAUTION! Be trained FIRST before you
teach!
! 0

"
Whenever you see the word Master (Lord) in Scripture,
it implies that you are the servant or disciple who imitate
and follow the actions and teaching of your Master. It is beautifully illustrated in Matt 10:24-25
that a disciple and a servant or slave is one and the same.
* 1!3 9

$
)

$
* %

$
;
)

! 9
6<

'

$
'

;
$

'
$

Paul understood what it meant to be a Teacher and what it meant to be disciples and he
encouraged them to follow their example and to imitate them. He regards himself as a father
to both the Corinthians and to Timothy his disciple.

The father-to-son language is characteristic of the Pharisaic teacher-disciple model.

Furthermore, he urges the Corinthians to imitate him, thus spurring them on to live out their
discipleship. You that call yourself a teacher of the word, you aught to live a life that is a good
example to others because people will learn from you as they imitate you as your disciples.
Be careful what you teach, may it come from the mouth of our Master Yshua, because all
teachers of the Word will have a greater judgement.
0

$
$

If you say that you are a follower of Yshua your Master, then you aught to walk the way He
walked and do what He teaches, imitating Him and convey His teachings to others. You are
representing you Master while He is not present in the physical, and you aught to walk the
same way He walked. This is what the term What Would Yshua (Jesus) Do fits in well, the
bands everybody where (WWJD), but not everybody understand what this implies or means.
0
4
>?
,

!
6
+

='

4
>?

6=
+

. /
>?

This begs the question: did Yshua (Jesus) keep the Torah? Lets hear what our Master
spoke with His own mouth:
A

" 1! 3 @
('

'
0
) 9
<
%
)

&

'
(0
*

(,

$
-

"'
1

! *

21

23

4
5

4
! #

'
$ #+ .C5.CCB

'

$ %

&

" 1,

/
Yshua kept Torah and in Matt 5 He taught Torah, explaining that it comes from the heart and
that the seed of sin is also in the heart and if you sin in your heart, you actually have sinned in
the flesh. That is why He gave us His Spirit to help us to obey Him in our hearts and in our
flesh through our actions. John 5:47 say explicitly that Yshuas Words are the Torah (the
writings of Moses).They state that Yshua broke the Sabbath by healing people on it, He did
not break the Sabbath because you are permitted to do good to others on the Sabbath, He
broke the rules and regulations of the Pharisees which they burden the people with, keeping
them away from the Kingdom.

- %
>:

&

5 D

C
#
>

$$
E
A

$
)EC F (

,
+

>

These two points are the main two points that people tend to state that Yshua has done away
with, not understanding the Scripture or discipleship, twisting the Word to conform to man
made doctrines of a church system (legalism). If only people really know Yshua and what
He did, they will follow and worship Him the way He prescribed and walk as He walked. I
encourage you to study ad find out what Yshua really did, so that you can do what Yshua
did, so that you can really become His disciple.

These are the main things you have to do as a disciple of Yshua:

Equipping: Study, learn and understand the Word and YHVHs Plan and His
Character what He likes and dislikes. Do this so that you may equip yourself to help
others to see the light. Be ready to answer questions and to defend your faith.
Representing: Apply His Word, imitating your Master and live the life He specifies in
His Word. If you live a life contrary to His Word, you are dishonouring Him and
misrepresenting Him and the people in the world will get the wrong picture of Him
when they look at your life. Equip yourself with good works and be blameless so that
no one points a finger at you.
Evangelising: Spread the Word through your lifestyle and good relationships without
compromising, shining your light. They will see that you are different and ask
questions, and then you have the right to speak into their lives. Light makes no
sound, shine before you speak.
Duplicating: Raise more disciples and become skilled so that you can help others to
go through the same process as you did, imitating Yshua. Be skilled in the Word and
willing to teach others. Treat people with care and be sensitive for the level they are
at. People will only receive from you when they trust and respect you.
Serving: Love your fellow believers as Yshua loves His people, even unto death.
Meet the needs in your community and look after one another.
Expressing Life: If someone leaves your presence, they must feel as if they have
been build up and they must want to come back to you and learn more of YHVH.