In Judaism, the idea of serving important spiritual people and their disciples has extraordinary value. It expresses an appreciation for the righteous, a desire to attach oneself to them and to learn from them in a deeply spiritual way, Shlomo Libertowski, Torah lecturer at Beth Shemesh, writes in a commentary for the Heschel Center of the Catholic University of Lublin, commenting on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Sunday, July 2.
The Torah lecturer cites stories from the Old Testament about the importance of service. Joshua served Moses before becoming his successor. Similarly, Elisha was Elijah’s disciple and servant before he became a prophet himself. The service of the sages and their disciples is an ever-present feature in the culture of Judaism. It has a greater significance than the unreflective downloading of learning. “The sages of the Talmud taught that serving the Torah, or its representatives, is more important than learning Torah from them” (Berachot 7:22), Shlomo Libertovsky points out.
Libertovsky reminds us that Jesus’ words – “Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple – amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42) – are part of the Jewish tradition of serving the righteous and their disciples.
The full text of the commentary to the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:37-42) read on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
The words of Jesus, as they are recounted by the apostle Matthew, reflect an important and deep tradition of serving the sages. This shows the admiration for the righteous and their students and the desire to be attached to them and learn from them, in a deeply spiritual way and not just instrumentally accumulating knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
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