Text and Context

Many who have been studying the Kesher Course have asked what comes next? In response, CFI organised a teaching conference as an opportunity to explore on a deeper level the Jewish roots of our faith, setting the person of the Lord Jesus back in his Jewish context.  

Jesus never went to church. He never read a New Testament.  He never sang a Christian hymn. He never encountered a Protestant or a Roman Catholic. He never possessed a passport. Much has been written and spoken about Jesus, but so often this has been filtered through the lens of scholarship or culture. Jesus has become many things to many people and sadly the real man from Nazareth has been obscured or even lost. We constantly need to pursue the quest for insights into the true Jesus as we engage with His world, words and wisdom.

Jesus was a Torah-observant Jewish Rabbi and if we are ever going to understand anything about Him then we must set Him in the matrix of first century Jewish life. He grew up in a Jewish family, attended synagogue on Sabbath, celebrated the Jewish festivals and walked the land of Israel. So much of what He said was coherent with Jewish thought and consistent with the teaching of contemporary rabbis. Yet He was unique. He lived in a context of social turmoil, political conflict and religious dissent.  A line from Gerard Manley Hopkins provides an appropriate prayer for this conference. ‘Lord of Life, send our roots rain.'   This series will be an opportunity to ‘xplore' the roots of our faith in more depth.  Delving into the world of Yeshua is like visiting a foreign country where we discover people do things differently and speak another language.

However, both the text of Jewish Scripture and context of Jewish life will help us get to know more about the person and work of this Torah-observant village workman whose work is now known all over the world. To see sample clips and order the DVD set click here.

Text and Context was taught by Xplorations, the ministry of Desi Maxwell.

Click here to see a brief introduction of his ministry