Articles Archives - Our Rabbi Jesus https://ourrabbijesus.com/category/articles/ His Jewish Life and Teaching Thu, 15 Jan 2026 21:34:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 31550207 Ugandan Names are Interesting and Complex https://ourrabbijesus.com/about-ugandan-names/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/about-ugandan-names/#respond Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:40:49 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=14243 I’m now working on a book with my Ugandan colleague Rev. Dr. Milly Erema Maturu and I realized that I was making a mistake with her name that I needed to correct. In older articles, I used to refer to her as Dr. Erema, but now I realize that she really should be referred to […]

The post Ugandan Names are Interesting and Complex appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/about-ugandan-names/feed/ 0 14243 With Joy You will Draw Water from the Wells of Salvation https://ourrabbijesus.com/with-joy-you-will-draw-water-from-the-wells-of-salvation/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/with-joy-you-will-draw-water-from-the-wells-of-salvation/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:54:50 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=14049 Right now is the Feast of Sukkot, (Tabernacles), when Jews build small booths in their yards to live in (or at least eat their meals in), to celebrate the harvest and to commemorate their desert wandering. Each year the celebration takes place during September or October, after Israel has experienced at least six months without […]

The post With Joy You will Draw Water from the Wells of Salvation appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/with-joy-you-will-draw-water-from-the-wells-of-salvation/feed/ 2 14049 Meditating on Psalm 90, the Groundhog Day Movie, and Life https://ourrabbijesus.com/meditating-on-psalm-90-the-groundhog-day-movie-and-life/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/meditating-on-psalm-90-the-groundhog-day-movie-and-life/#respond Thu, 06 Mar 2025 20:50:51 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=13837 Psalm 90 begins with some hard-to-hear words about our lives that are troubled with sin and all too brief, but then culminates with profound ideas about what brings life joy despite our difficulties. It is an excellent psalm for Ash Wednesday and Lent, because this is the time of year when we think about how […]

The post Meditating on Psalm 90, the Groundhog Day Movie, and Life appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/meditating-on-psalm-90-the-groundhog-day-movie-and-life/feed/ 0 13837 Two Talks on the Bible from an Insider’s Perspective https://ourrabbijesus.com/reading-the-bible-from-an-insiders-perspective-watch-now/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/reading-the-bible-from-an-insiders-perspective-watch-now/#respond Wed, 06 Dec 2023 23:11:49 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=12994 Remember in Genesis 15 when Abraham sacrificed animals to make a blood path to cut a covenant with God? You might think that you’d need to go back three thousand years to see this scene, but Rev. Dr. Milly Erema Maturu saw her family make covenants this way when she was a kid. Her traditional […]

The post Two Talks on the Bible from an Insider’s Perspective appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/reading-the-bible-from-an-insiders-perspective-watch-now/feed/ 0 12994 Advent: When Isaiah Explains the Words of Jesus https://ourrabbijesus.com/advent-when-isaiah-explains-the-words-of-jesus/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/advent-when-isaiah-explains-the-words-of-jesus/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2022 20:12:00 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=12531 Advent is my favorite time of year because this is the one time that Christians read our Bible Hebraically, like the early church did. We open our Bible to the Old Testament and read it looking for God’s ancient promises and how they would finally come true in the Messianic age, in the coming of […]

The post Advent: When Isaiah Explains the Words of Jesus appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/advent-when-isaiah-explains-the-words-of-jesus/feed/ 6 12531 Reading the Bible through Ancient Eyes (+ Update 1/24/22) https://ourrabbijesus.com/my-ugandan-friend-reads-the-bible-through-ancient-eyes/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/my-ugandan-friend-reads-the-bible-through-ancient-eyes/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2021 02:25:47 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=11628 For the past couple months, I’ve had a remarkable Bible scholar staying at my house. Milly Erema has been teaching Old Testament for the past 20 years at Uganda Christian University. You’ve actually heard me quote her several times in my books, along with other Africans and Asians who I consult for their non-Western perspective. […]

The post Reading the Bible through Ancient Eyes (+ Update 1/24/22) appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/my-ugandan-friend-reads-the-bible-through-ancient-eyes/feed/ 5 11628 Why doesn’t the Bible have more Romance Stories? https://ourrabbijesus.com/where-are-the-romances-in-the-bible/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/where-are-the-romances-in-the-bible/#comments Fri, 14 Feb 2020 19:52:34 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=8454 If you walk into any bookstore, you’ll find an enormous section called “romance,” full of steamy love affairs. Even if you shop in the “mystery” or “adventure” sections, nearly every story will have a “love interest” as a subplot. It seems like no story can be told without it. How will the lonely hero find […]

The post Why doesn’t the Bible have more Romance Stories? appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/where-are-the-romances-in-the-bible/feed/ 9 8454 The Gospel Makes More Sense if You Think as a “We” https://ourrabbijesus.com/the-gospel-makes-more-sense-if-you-think-as-a-we/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/the-gospel-makes-more-sense-if-you-think-as-a-we/#comments Sat, 26 Oct 2019 03:19:16 +0000 https://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=8150 Even though Jesus preached absolutely nonstop about the kingdom, that word is quite a puzzle to readers. I used to think of “kingdom” as a very esoteric, abstract idea, not considering the fact that the word kingdom describes a community. It’s describing God’s relationship with a whole group of people whom he is redeeming. When […]

The post The Gospel Makes More Sense if You Think as a “We” appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/the-gospel-makes-more-sense-if-you-think-as-a-we/feed/ 5 8150 Greek Brain, Hebrew Brain: How Parables Worked https://ourrabbijesus.com/greek-brain-hebrew-brain-how-parables-worked/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/greek-brain-hebrew-brain-how-parables-worked/#comments Tue, 24 Jul 2018 02:17:38 +0000 http://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=7146 (An excerpt from my book, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus ) Jesus’s parables fit perfectly into a non-Western, Jewish culture that expressed itself through tangible metaphors. He was engaging in sophisticated theological teaching, but we miss it if we are looking for the deductive abstract arguments of the Greeks. Jesus often based his reasoning […]

The post Greek Brain, Hebrew Brain: How Parables Worked appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/greek-brain-hebrew-brain-how-parables-worked/feed/ 11 7146 Where Two or Three are Gathered… https://ourrabbijesus.com/where-two-or-three-are-gathered/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/where-two-or-three-are-gathered/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2018 02:34:16 +0000 http://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=6895 I recently received a question about Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” which I discussed in my book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, page 72. Many read this line as meaning that Jesus promises to be present when his […]

The post Where Two or Three are Gathered… appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/where-two-or-three-are-gathered/feed/ 8 6895 Speaking is Painting: Why No Translation Can Be “Perfect” https://ourrabbijesus.com/speaking-is-painting-why-no-translation-can-be-perfect/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/speaking-is-painting-why-no-translation-can-be-perfect/#comments Mon, 17 Feb 2014 02:51:50 +0000 http://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=3903 Many of us are frustrated by why no one seems to be able to come up with one perfect English Bible translation. Why are there so many versions? Why can’t we just have one final, best English translation? A major reason is because of one aspect of language that most of us don’t appreciate. When […]

The post Speaking is Painting: Why No Translation Can Be “Perfect” appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/speaking-is-painting-why-no-translation-can-be-perfect/feed/ 4 3903 The Reality of Disciples and Rabbis https://ourrabbijesus.com/a-question-about-disciples-rabbis/ https://ourrabbijesus.com/a-question-about-disciples-rabbis/#comments Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:44:52 +0000 http://ourrabbijesus.com/?p=3372 I recently was asked about how disciples studied with rabbis. What age were disciples, and did they pay the rabbi a fee to study? How did they support themselves at the same time? Did the rabbis work at some craft to support themselves? (They were not like rabbis of today, which like pastors are to […]

The post The Reality of Disciples and Rabbis appeared first on Our Rabbi Jesus.

]]> https://ourrabbijesus.com/a-question-about-disciples-rabbis/feed/ 18 3372