Walking with St. Paul A Fervent Follower of his Rabbi

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. 

 

This concept was certainly clear to St. Luke who wrote the volume we call “The Acts of the Apostles” because he selects key stories from early Church history to show how the apostles (especially Sts. Peter and Paul) are imitating their rabbi.  Their words and works (preaching, teaching and healing) match their Master’s message and behavior.  He took imitation of Jesus seriously.

 

Consider the following description:  “In the first-century, a fiery rabbi surrounded by twelve men, former followers of John the Baptist, disciplining them for three years while preaching in synagogues and in public places.  Supported by a small group of faithful women, he began to turn the world upside down, and threatened the power of religious leaders.  They accused him of blaspheming the Temple, brought him up on charges before the Sanhedrin and made a defense before the Gentiles before being executed by the Roman empire.”

 

At first glance, this would appear to be a description of Jesus Christ but it is actually outlining the contours of St Paul’s life, as given in Acts.  All of the above statements aren’t true of Christ (e.g. all twelve apostles weren’t former followers of John the Baptist), but it accurately describes St. Paul’s three years in Ephesus where he formed twelve followers of John, as well as building up the early Christian community in this famous port city. 

 

But for St. Paul, this wasn’t simply an outward reality - visible behavior.  It was a reality going within the person which is naturally manifested in the outer world, like fruit on a tree.  And this wasn’t a reality singular to St. Paul, it is the call for every Christian “All of us,” the apostle reminded the Church, “with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the  Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18, NRSV).  We will also see this language in our upcoming study of Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). 

 

For St. Paul and for us, being a fervent follower of our rabbi Jesus is not a robotic imitation.  It is learning from him how to live my life, as he would live my life, if he were I. 

 

This, in part, is why Marian devotion is so important.  Long ago, she formed Him in her womb, and as the mother of the Church she continues to “form” him in our lives through her intercession.  May we, through the intercession of Our Lady, be shaped and formed in her spiritual womb into perfect images of his Son.  St. Paul reached this spiritual plateau.  He could issue the bold invitation of a true disciple of Jesus, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).  May that be our goal, with Mary’s aid and St. Paul’s intercession that we will persevere in true discipleship and with the Apostle, “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).