Such wonderful questions! It is a joy to have you here in the forum.
Personally, I am floored that I never knew that Jesus kept the laws himself, meaning he kept torah, correct?
Yes, Yeshua kept the Law perfectly, PERFECTLY. He was without sin. According to Matthew 23:1-2, and Matthew 23:23, this also included the Oral Torah.
I want to walk in the footsteps of my Lord.
I am so deeply touched by this thread and the new knowledge that i am learning..
I feel like laying prostate on the floor, weeping, as Ive never really then followed my Lord and lived like He did.
I just did not know the truth.
You have such a pure heart! Just remember that we obey the Torah out of LOVE, not out of obligation. If you feel led to take on the 613, that's great. I believe you will be blessed. But you don't have to. If you are simply a moral person, following the universal laws laid out in the New Testament, reading the Torah for inspiration in how to love your neighbor as yourself, that is good enough for God. IOW, there is nothing wrong with being a part of a regular church. Messianic Judaism has good relationships with the churches. It's entirely up to you, my friend! God bless you which ever you choose.
Was Jesus a real Rabbi then?
It depends on what you mean by Rabbi. Rabbi means an expert in the knowledge and interpretation of the Torah -- certainly by that definition, Yeshua was a Rabbi. However, the formal definition of a Rabbi is a man who, by the unbroken leaning of hands, is the ordained successor to the judges of the Tanakh (OT). I don't think Yeshua had this ordination -- surely the NT would say so if it were true, since it would have been so significant.
Was he studied and learned in the Jewish laws and traditions?
It is obvious from his debates with the Pharisees that he was well learned in Torah, or he wouldn't have been able to hold his own. In fact, he was a Pharisee himself, but of a different school than those who ran the Sanhedrin in his day.
There were two houses (schools) -- bet Shammai and bet Hillel. If Christians just knew about this, the gospels would make so much more sense to them. The two schools argued with each other all the time -- these arguments are recorded in the Talmud. Yeshua's arguments are therefore quite normal and typical of Jewish tradition.
Bet Shammai was extremely strict and legalistic. You see them in the gospels, since they controlled the Sanhedrin in that time.
Bet Hillel was not as strict; it was more the spirit of the Law. For example, a convert came to Rabbi Hillel, and R. Hillel said to him, "Whatever is hateful to you, don't do to others. That is the whole Torah. You are now a Jew. God and study." BTW, bet Hillel won out the competition, and is the foundation of Rabbinical Judaism today.
Yeshua's teachings can be divided into two groups:
- What he taught about himself: that he was the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Messiah, and God, that he had to die, and would rise again. These teachings are unique to Yeshua.
- His teachings regarding the Law. These teaching (except on divorce) were all bet Hillel. His teachings on the Law were not at all unique. Any Jew reading the gospel will recognize them right away. He himself, like the Pharisees, "built a fence around the Torah" with his teachings on lust/adultery and name calling/murder.
Where would he have learned all of these things?
His earliest learning was probably at Mary's feet. Never underestimate the importance of Jewish women! Then there were the synagogues and/or Jewish schools of learning. I don't know quite what the system was, but the Pharisees believed every Jewish boy should have an education in reading/writing and Torah, and set up schools where they could learn this. It changed Jewish culture forever.
Did he have a Jewish temple where he was taught?
There was only one Temple, in Jerusalem, and it was used for Sacrifices. However, there were many local synagogues. They were places of learning and worship. The gospels record Yeshua traveling with his family to Jerusalem, and talking with the best minds in all of Judaism (it is possible he met Hillel at that time). It is also recorded that he read from the Prophet Isaiah in a synagogue in his home town.
why is jesus called yeshua?
Yeshua is the Aramaic version of his name. Aramaic was Jesus' first language, so Yeshua was the name his mother and father called him as a child. Aramaic is what Hebrew had devolved to over time, after being exposed to other languages in the area.