Oct 20, 2008
This week we reflect on the final aspect of St. Paul’s identity, the last of these “worlds,” one that would simultaneously eclipse and illuminate the other two - his Jewish roots and Greco-Roman milieu. It is St. Paul as a fervent follower of his rabbi, Jesus.
One of the facets of first-century life in Judaism is the close relationship between rabbis and their talmidim (disciples). The role of a disciple is to perfectly imitate everything he observes his rabbi doing. Discipleship is imitation. When an ancient rabbi accepted a talmid (disciple), he was publicly acknowledging to the young man and his community that “I think you can be like me.” To be a disciple was not simply being a student, not to know what your master knows - but rather to be what he is.