In Galilee the Torah was in dispute so Jesus’ teaching and action reveal how he read and interpreted the Scriptures from a different perspective, that of the prophetic tradition.
At the heart of Jesus’ teaching and practice is a disputed reading of the Law. Jesus stands with the prophets in their interpretation of it:
Do not think I have come to abolish the law and the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfil it.
Matthew 5:17
And as he puts it:
The weightier matters of the Torah are judgement, mercy and faithfulness.
Matthew 23:23
Hence Jesus asks two questions of the scribe: What is written in the Torah? How do you read it? In other words, he makes sure they are dealing with the same text but then states that the text has to be interpreted. In Galilee the Torah was in dispute so Jesus’ teaching and action reveal how he read and interpreted the Scriptures from a different perspective, that of the prophetic tradition.
In Galilee Jesus develops rituals of reversal and we begin to see interpretations of the Great Tradition.
