mantra like the pagans (or heathens) would utter, or unintelligible speech. Notice that he did not say “Don’t pray as your fellow Jews do.” So did Yeshua recite liturgy and prayers? Yes, he did. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
The Shema
The Shema is considered to be the “Jewish profession of faith.” It is a prayer that consists of three passages in the Torah (Deut.6:4-9, Deut.11:13-21, and Num.15:37-41). This prayer is said two to four times a day. Some speculate that this was the prayer being recited by Daniel, for which he was thrown into the lion’s den. It is so important that the Mishna allows it to be uttered in any language (not just Hebrew). (M Sot 7:1) It is also the prayer that many Jews have said as they faced death at the hands of persecutors including many who went into the gas chambers of Nazi Germany in WW2. Rabbi Akiva, the second-century sage tortured to death by the Romans for his support of the Bar-Kokhba rebellion, was the most famous martyr to die with the Shema on his lips.
The Talmud records:
“When Akiva was being tortured, the hour for saying the [morning] Shema arrived. He said it and smiled. The Roman officer called out, ‘Old man, are you a sorcerer [because Akiva seemed oblivious to the torture] that you smile in the middle of your pains?’ ‘No,’ replied Akiva, ‘but all my life, when I said the words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your means,” I was saddened, for I thought, when shall I be able to fulfill this command? I have loved God with all my heart, and with all my means [possessions], but to love him with all my soul [life itself] I did not know if I could carry it out. Now that I am giving my life, and the hour for reciting the Shema has come and my resolution remains firm, should I not smile?’ As he spoke, his soul departed”