The Midrash Key edition by Edward Vasicek Religion Spirituality eBooks
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Discovery how Jesus' teachings come to life and deepen when we realize that many of them are explanations of Old Testament texts in the Jewish style of "Midrash." When we locate the Old Testament "mother text" and compare it with its development in the New Testament -- and when we bring ancient Jewish sources into the picture (like the Talmud) -- we expand the context. This clears up misunderstandings and pinpoints the meanings of Jesus' words.
This book is written from a conservative, evangelical perspective. Pastors, laymen, Sunday School teachers and home group leaders will also appreciate "The Midrash Key Discussion the Teacher's Guide" (print copy only).
Get familiar with the Jewish Roots of the Christian faith and see the difference understanding these roots make via "The Midrash Key." Although not targeting academics, academics will particularly appreciate the extensive footnotes.
Author Pastor Ed Vasicek received his degree from Moody Bible Institute, serves the Highland Park Church (Kokomo, IN) as pastor, and occasionally speaks at the Messianic Congregation "Ahavot Yeshua" in Indianapolis.
For some additional MIdrash studies, browse The Midrash Key website at www.midrashkey.com
The Midrash Key edition by Edward Vasicek Religion Spirituality eBooks
Our modern worldview is so alien from the worldview of a religious Jew in the first century that it's often difficult for us to read the Gospel accounts of the Life of Christ and even make a beginning of penetrating what they are saying. In The Midrash Key, Vasicek argues that the key to understanding these Gospel accounts, the words of Christ, is through the Midrash, which is not only a written commentary, but also a method of teaching and understanding.The author begins this work by explaining the Midrash, and the cultural ideas and concepts behind the Midrash. He brings some very useful information to the table in this background, including that Galilean Jews were well known for their practical, down-to-earth religious faith, and that it was quite common for Jews of the first century to leave their homes and occupations for a while to follow a specific teacher. Part of this ritual, he insists, is in the memorization of the Midrash, or the sayings, of the teacher the Jew has decided to follow.
This concept of memorization, in the author's explanation, provides us with a good understanding of how we got the writings of the Apostles. In their culture, memorization of sayings was the key to understanding, not writing things down and studying them; the followers of Christ would have seen things no differently. Hence, there is no need for some "Q document," each follower of Christ would have relied on their own memory, along with other written accounts, and the memories of those they knew, to build a Gospel. While Matthew came first, in other words, Luke didn't wholly rely on Matthew. They didn't have modern reference systems, nor modern quote systems, and hence the concept of a "primary document," from which other documents were built would have been foreign to them.
Beyond the origin of the Gospels, this view of the way discipleship worked in the first century also explains the form of the Gospels. In Vasicek's view, Jesus would have moved from location to location, preaching from a somewhat narrow set of themes, using the same parables over and over again. His disciples would have memorized parts of these two and three hour sermons, rather than the entire sermon in each case; the Gospels are essentially the pieces the disciples memorized as being the most important, or the foundational pieces.
The author also does a good job of dealing with issues of salvation, and with the humanness of Christ. While he doesn't dive deeply into these topics, what he does say is a breath of fresh air in a world that seems to have lost focus on what the Incarnation was for.
Where I must depart company with the author, however, is in his view of the Midrasihic quality of the teaching of Christ as a set of fences around the Mosaic Law. The purpose behind treating the teachings of Christ in this way is to preserve the Mosaic Law for modern believers, to get to the point where fulfillment is seen as explaining, rather than fulfilling. In the service of this cause, Vasicek claims Jesus was building fences around the Law when he preached the Sermon on the Mount, for instance --going beyond the Law in order to prevent the ordinary person from unintentionally breaking the law.
This view, that Christ, the Son of God, very God Himself, would go beyond the Law in order to "protect the people from the Law," is simply nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. In fact, there is a good case to be made that these "fences," are just as much the cause of man's fall as anything else --Eve built a fence around the Law, and Satan used that fence to convince her to eat. While the author does try to make the case that these fences are supposed to be secondary, this is very dangerous territory. That he goes in this direction simply to support the modern application of the Mosaic Law is a case of chopping off your nose to spite your face.
Overall, this is well worth reading. Just remember to spit out the watermelon seeds of "fences," and all that implies, along the way.
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The Midrash Key edition by Edward Vasicek Religion Spirituality eBooks Reviews
The Midrash Key offers an entirely fresh perspective into Jesus' teachings with the premise that Jesus actually based them off Old Testament passages. When you look at the fraction of Jesus' teachings that we have today, bearing the ideas presented in this book, new meanings and ideas become instantly evident.
This book is written for a person with a fundamental knowledge of the scriptures. You do not need to be a pastor or an academic to enjoy the subject matter.
I would highly recommend this book.
A fantastic resource when looking at the root and ongoing basis for our faith.
A good friend highly recommended this book to me. As I was in the midst of finishing seminary at the time I had plenty to read but put it on my "things to read after seminary" list. I finally finished seminary and have read this book. "The Midrash Key" is an excellent study to put the teachings of Jesus in their proper context. This book is also very readable for the lay person as well as having great teaching potential for a Sunday School or Bible study. Thank you Reverend Vasicek for this contribution.
Vasicek makes a good case for Jesus preaching sermons on First Testament texts. Not only does this help us understand the context of Jesus' message, but it adds nuances that we might otherwise miss. The importance of understanding Christianity's Jewish roots comes through as an important theme. It's a much needed study for our day! If you think the Old Testament is inferior to the New, this book will open your eyes to its importance. -From the author ofJohn's Rabbi
I am very pleased with the book and it's contents so far. I am still in the process of reading it and I believe that it will be of great help to me in giving me a better understanding of the scriptures. I am a pastor of a church and for that reason it will be of great use to me in my sermon preparation and Bible Studies. I like the ease of being able to find a book that I'm looking for and finding it fast and at a good price.
I used it on my thesis entitled Those Who Heard It First The Political Implications of the Sermon on the Mount to Jesus' Jewish Audience as found on too. It gave some good research points I could use.
The Midrash Key is a book that is written very well. Pastor Vasicek has done enormous research on this subject, but his discussion is very clear and precise to each subject. He connects Deuteronomy and Matthew succinctly. It is a book I will be turning to often for information.
Our modern worldview is so alien from the worldview of a religious Jew in the first century that it's often difficult for us to read the Gospel accounts of the Life of Christ and even make a beginning of penetrating what they are saying. In The Midrash Key, Vasicek argues that the key to understanding these Gospel accounts, the words of Christ, is through the Midrash, which is not only a written commentary, but also a method of teaching and understanding.
The author begins this work by explaining the Midrash, and the cultural ideas and concepts behind the Midrash. He brings some very useful information to the table in this background, including that Galilean Jews were well known for their practical, down-to-earth religious faith, and that it was quite common for Jews of the first century to leave their homes and occupations for a while to follow a specific teacher. Part of this ritual, he insists, is in the memorization of the Midrash, or the sayings, of the teacher the Jew has decided to follow.
This concept of memorization, in the author's explanation, provides us with a good understanding of how we got the writings of the Apostles. In their culture, memorization of sayings was the key to understanding, not writing things down and studying them; the followers of Christ would have seen things no differently. Hence, there is no need for some "Q document," each follower of Christ would have relied on their own memory, along with other written accounts, and the memories of those they knew, to build a Gospel. While Matthew came first, in other words, Luke didn't wholly rely on Matthew. They didn't have modern reference systems, nor modern quote systems, and hence the concept of a "primary document," from which other documents were built would have been foreign to them.
Beyond the origin of the Gospels, this view of the way discipleship worked in the first century also explains the form of the Gospels. In Vasicek's view, Jesus would have moved from location to location, preaching from a somewhat narrow set of themes, using the same parables over and over again. His disciples would have memorized parts of these two and three hour sermons, rather than the entire sermon in each case; the Gospels are essentially the pieces the disciples memorized as being the most important, or the foundational pieces.
The author also does a good job of dealing with issues of salvation, and with the humanness of Christ. While he doesn't dive deeply into these topics, what he does say is a breath of fresh air in a world that seems to have lost focus on what the Incarnation was for.
Where I must depart company with the author, however, is in his view of the Midrasihic quality of the teaching of Christ as a set of fences around the Mosaic Law. The purpose behind treating the teachings of Christ in this way is to preserve the Mosaic Law for modern believers, to get to the point where fulfillment is seen as explaining, rather than fulfilling. In the service of this cause, Vasicek claims Jesus was building fences around the Law when he preached the Sermon on the Mount, for instance --going beyond the Law in order to prevent the ordinary person from unintentionally breaking the law.
This view, that Christ, the Son of God, very God Himself, would go beyond the Law in order to "protect the people from the Law," is simply nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. In fact, there is a good case to be made that these "fences," are just as much the cause of man's fall as anything else --Eve built a fence around the Law, and Satan used that fence to convince her to eat. While the author does try to make the case that these fences are supposed to be secondary, this is very dangerous territory. That he goes in this direction simply to support the modern application of the Mosaic Law is a case of chopping off your nose to spite your face.
Overall, this is well worth reading. Just remember to spit out the watermelon seeds of "fences," and all that implies, along the way.
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