20230214 Youth Group

Announcements:

* Workout Group on Mondays at 5PM
* Games+Josiah Levi Performance on Friday, March 17th at 5PM
* Spartan Race on Sunday, March 26th at Folsom Lake College at 10:30AM

Game: Sardines

Notebooks: 5 minutes

Cyndi’s Talk: 1 Timothy 4:12 

How old were the disciples?

“Let’s go to the Mishnah, the oral interpretations of Torah (law) at the time of Jesus.  It shows a very regimented educational/life path for young boys in Judaism:
 “At five years old [one is fit] for the Scripture, at ten years the Mishnah (oral Torah, interpretations) at thirteen for the fulfilling of the commandments, at fifteen the Talmud (making Rabbinic interpretations), at eighteen the bride-chamber, at twenty pursuing a vocation, at thirty for authority (able to teach others).”

So, in the time of Jesus, almost all Jewish young men were married, and usually by age 18. But in the Gospels, Peter is the only disciple known to have been married (Matthew 8:14-15).  No other disciples’ wives are ever mentioned.  So this tells us that the disciples may have all been under 20, with some as young as 15.

What bolsters this case is the educational pathway of that time.  Education for the Jewish child concluded at the age of 15.  But just as every parent today would be proud to have a son or daughter do much more education to become a high-status medical doctor or professor, Jewish parents would desire their boys to be selected for Rabbinic training.

If you were 15 and done with your basic training in Torah, a boy who was bright enough, (or whose parents were rich enough) would find a rabbi to take them on as a student.  You’d have to show proficiency and it’s assumed many students had very large portions of the Law and Prophets committed to memory.

If your son didn’t merit this honor, they would enter the workforce by their mid-teens, and in almost every case, apprentice under their fathers in the family trade.

Because we find them working in trades at the time Jesus calls them, none of the disciples likely were “star students”.  After their formal education was complete, they were not taken for mentorship by any local Rabbi.  And so, being passed over as teenagers, they are perhaps shocked to be considered worthy of apprenticeship with a traveling Rabbi who was beginning to gain a reputation at that time.”

Quoted text above from:

How Old Were The Disciples?

Can you imagine yourself doing a really normal day in your life and then Jesus showing up and doing some crazy miracle and asking you to follow him? Describe where you would be and what you would be doing in your imagination when Jesus asks you to follow him. 

While that may not be the case, the truth isn’t far off.

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. “
-1 Timothy 4:12 

What are things you can’t do because of your age?

Were you ever dismissed for a task because of your age?

Why do you think age isn’t a big deal for Jesus?

-Cyndi

Prayer: by Cyndi

Attendance:
1. Cyndi
2. Ezra E
3. Noah
4. Zion
5. Eden
6. Eliza
7. Ollie
8. Ezra W
9. Isella
10. Sam H
11. Angela H
12. Angie S
13. Tessa
14. Angie C
15. Siena C
16. Araina P
17. Bryan S
18. Vanessa (2️⃣nd week)