INTRODUCTION
One of the major causes of the church not truly walking in the ways of Jesus is that we don't truly understand what the ways of Jesus were, and are!
How can you say that, David? Surely we have learned theologians to research and teach, pastors who diligently study and preach the Word, day after day, week after week, year after year. We can have knowledge coming out of our ears from spending time hearing, reading or watching the gospel being expounded in so many different ways.
Yet we continue to miss the point, to misinterpret, to misunderstand, what the walk with Jesus is truly all about. How terrible. How sad. For me, and for you.
How do our misunderstandings arise then?
It is because we come from a Greek rather than a Jewish mindset. And the two are poles apart. In reality, for 2000 years now we have assumed Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Peter, Paul and all, thought in the same way, but with different conclusions, to the many famous Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, those who are responsible for the thought processes underpinning our educational system, and Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, to name but a very few. The Old Testament was translated into Greek in the 3rd century before Jesus, while the New Testament was written in Greek. Unfortunately, much of the intrinsic meaning and understanding of the Jewish culture in which Jesus lived and ministered, was lost in the Greek translation, in the way of thinking of those of us in a Greek thought pattern, dominated world.
Put simply, if we start out on the wrong road, we are most likely to arrive at the wrong destination.
Over the centuries, some people have had truths revealed through revelation from the Holy Spirit, but generally, these ones have been rejected by the established church, which has preferred to continue in intellectual, religious ways, leading to division and even hatred between believers through different, man-made, interpretations of Scripture. "Jesus still weeps!"
In more recent times however, in particular since the re-establishment of the State of Israel, a greater understanding of historical Jewish ways is starting to emerge, being available to those with a desire to seek out truths that have been lost or ignored for the past 2 millennia of the Christian church.
Here, we will look at some of these cultural differences and see how they impact our understanding of what Jesus really was all about. It should be life changing!
We need to learn to understand and think in an Eastern (Hebrew), rather than in our traditional and typical Greek (Western), way. The Gospels, being about the life of Jesus, are written from an Eastern, Jewish perspective while the writings, particularly of Paul, have much more of a Western perspective, as he was writing to a primarily European audience of Gentiles.
Let us begin……
Acknowledgements: http://www.followtherabbi.com and http://hethathasanear.com and http://www.wildbranch.org
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We think in abstract ideas, using logic, definitions, bullet points etc., to explain our ideas. Prose is our favoured median of writing. We are fact based. For example, let’s look at Paul's outline of the qualifications for eldership.
Hebrew thinkers express truth in a concrete fashion, building word pictures and telling stories. Poetry is their favourite form of expression. Imagery and symbolism are used extensively to explain their ideas. eg. Book of Revelation - written by Jesus through John. 
Jesus taught in parables, in word pictures, making spiritual applications out of every day activities. The most famous is the Parable of the Sower. 
And we are all familiar with the beauty and powerful poetry of the Psalms, particularly those of David. What an amazing word picture of God's comfort and love in times of trouble is found in the 23rd Psalm. 
We view numbers very simply, as a quantity. So 1 means a single measure of what it is referring to. The number 2 is a double measure and 3, a triple measure. Combined together, there would be 6 items or units of measure. It is so straightforward, that it is difficult for us to conceive that numbers could be looked at in any different way. 
While Hebrew thinkers also use numbers to count, their primary understanding and application of numbers is as a quality or symbol. To Westerners it is as if it is a 'secret code' but for the Jews it comes naturally. 
..... as we look at the KINGDOM OF GOD (ETERNAL LIFE) and possibly also the COMMUNITY v INDIVIDUAL, as space allows. 
As we learn to approach the Bible from a Hebraic perspective, our understanding of the teachings of Jesus will change completely, as we have already seen today. And there is lots more to come!