Sunday, January 9, 2011 am
The Preaching of Jesus
We have begun studying the period of service and teaching of
Jesus (His ministry). Last
week our lesson was an overview of His footsteps during this 3½ year
time period of His life. It
was during this period that Jesus introduced the Kingdom of God and
righteousness. He found
disciples and taught them what would be expected of them and how to
serve the Father and one another.
He taught in many different ways including by His example, using
illustrations (such as coins, children, etc), parables, answering
questions and teaching & preaching the gospel (good news) of hope to be
found in Him. As He taught,
He established authority for His message and claims by performing many
signs and appealing to scripture.
He lived a proper example by following the Law without sin,
showing compassion to the weak and needy, and going about doing good for
others. During His teachings
He challenged the corrupt, the undecided and His faithful followers.
We want to spend sometime noticing some of the things He taught
and some of the things He did and HOW He did them.
In our lesson today we want to examine the preaching of Jesus.
It is interesting that the word “sermon” is not found in
scripture, but we do read about preaching.
Jesus did much preaching.
Today we want to talk about Jesus as a teacher AND preacher.
In our next lesson we will examine one of His sermons, the
so-called, “Sermon on the Mount.”
Following this we will examine other ways in which Jesus taught
and make applications to our responsibilities to teach as Christians.
a.
In
spiritual matters, there is no greater pattern of teaching than our Lord
Jesus Christ. Being the Son
of God and understanding His purpose, He was able to properly teach in
every situation. If you want
to know how to teach your neighbors, the proper attitudes you need to be
successful, how to deal with conflicts and differences, how to use your
time wisely, how to discern between the teachable and the unteachable,
and even WHAT to teach and when to teach it, you ought to study how
Jesus taught.
While Jesus did not convert everyone, I am convinced He reached everyone
around Him who WAS reachable.
With divine wisdom He was able to identify the sincere and the
hypocrite and to treat them accordingly.
He knew WHAT to say, WHEN to say it, & HOW to say it.
That is why He is described as
The Master Teacher!
There is simply NO greater example worthy of imitation when it comes to
teaching others. And
understand that we ARE required to be teachers! (2 Tim. 2:24, Heb. 5:12,
Co. 3:16, 1 Peter 3:15).
success.
b.
He was
recognized as a teacher.
i.
Called
Rabbi. The term Rabbi was
descriptive of a Jewish teacher and scholar recognized for his
understanding of scripture.
Jesus was called Rabbi by His disciples (who understood what He
claimed and sought to follow Him) – John 1:38, when 2 of John the
Baptist’s disciples were told to follow Jesus, they called Him Rabbi.
John 1:49, Nathanael called Him Rabbi. Other passages include
John 9:2 and 11:8.
ii.
Called
Master which was a title of leadership here, cf. Lk. 17:13,
8:24, 2 Tim. 2:21
iii.
Called
Teacher – Matthew 8:19, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
Matt. 19:16, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life?”
Also Matt. 22:16 Mark 9:38, etc.
John 13:14 where Jesus refers to Himself as their Teacher.
c.
He taught
with authority –
i.
He
appealed to the authority given Him by God the Father, (John 7:16,
8:28).
ii.
He did not
speak with speculations or theories.
He knew what He was talking about always.
iii.
He had
confidence which is a trait of good authority – for example, when He
said, “Before Abraham was, I AM” He knew exactly what He was saying and
what the response would be (John 8:58).
In fact ALL of His “I AM” statements demonstrate this confidence.
iv.
Matthew
21:23-27 shows that His authority was questioned.
d.
He taught
with wisdom – often astounding His audience.
We will see this wisdom as we examine the various forms of His
teaching including His sermons, parables, applications of scripture and
answering questions and His critics.
e.
He taught
with simplicity. I am
convinced that one of the attributes that made Jesus such a successful
teacher was His ability to relate to His audience.
His messages were understandable and at the level of those He
taught (not above as one who shows off his knowledge OR below as one who
is either too shallow or underestimates the understanding of his
audience).
f.
He taught
with love and caring – the motives of Jesus were NOT self-serving.
He cared deeply about those whom He taught.
He often showed emotions
including tears, compassion, grief, disappointment and love.
Even in His warnings against the hypocritical and overbearing leaders,
His concern was love for His audience. While
Jesus realized He would not change some of these corrupt leaders, He had
to speak in such a way as to warn those listening lest they be deceived
and devoured. His rebukes
were never presented with smugness and joy, but rather in grief.
g.
Many other
characteristics could be added to these to demonstrate how Jesus was the
Master Teacher. Throughout
our study, these things will be manifested.
a.
The
difference between preaching and teaching.
Teaching is a broad term that includes all forms of instruction
(including verbal, punitive consequences, example, illustration, and
showing how to do something, etc.).
Preaching is a specific form of teaching.
All preaching is to be teaching, but not all teaching is
preaching.
b.
Jesus was
a preacher as well as a teacher.
Many of the attributes that we discussed about His teaching would
apply to His preaching as well.
Many passages show that Jesus was a preacher.
c.
There are
primarily two words in Greek ascribed to Jesus as He preached:
i.
Κηρύσσω, kēryssō,
a word meaning to herald.
1.
Louw-Nida
defines it as, “to publicly
announce religious truths and principles while urging acceptance and
compliance.” (LN 33.256).
2.
The
word is translated preach or proclaim.
It is used to describe the work of Jesus in 9 passages
including:
Matt. 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matt. 4:23, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds
of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”
Matt. 9:35, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every sickness and every disease among the people.”
Matt. 11:1, “Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His
twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in
their cities.”
3.
It
was also used as Jesus instructed His apostles and disciples of the work
they would do, in 12
passages including, Matt. 10:7, “As you go, preach,...” and Mark 16:15,
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
4.
The same
word is also
proclaim in passages such
as Mark 1:45, 5:20, 7:36 where we read of those affected by Jesus
through healings and other things went and proclaimed what Jesus had
done for them.
ii.
εὐαγγελίζω,
euangelizō, a word associated with the word gospel which means good
news.
1.
The word here means, “to communicate
good news concerning something” (L&N 33.215) or proclaiming the gospel (bringing
glad tidings).
2.
The
word is used 6 times of Jesus preaching including:
Matt. 11:5, The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and
the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel
preached to them.
Luke 4:43, but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the
other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” (Note:
Vs. 44 uses the other word we discussed for preaching).
Luke 8:1, “Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every
city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom
of God. And the twelve were with Him.” (both words used here)
3.
This word
is also used of the angel who proclaimed the birth to shepherds (Lk.
1:19)
4.
Also used
of His disciples – “So they departed and went through the towns,
preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”
(Lk. 9:6)
5.
This is
also found in Acts 8:4 where they went everywhere preaching the word &
Eph. 2:17 which speaks of Jesus preaching peace to us who were afar off.
d.
His
preaching was relevant
i.
Not in the
sense that He appealed to the current philosophers and trends
ii.
His
preaching was what they needed to hear to make themselves right with
God. Thus He ALWAYS appealed
to and applied what had been revealed as the word of God and/or His
purpose in fulfilling what man needed.
iii.
He
preached to the audience at hand. A challenge many preachers face is
adapting a lesson to present what the audience needs to hear.
Some lessons apply to all, but others are more specific in
nature. How does one present
a lesson that is applicable to all without basic generalizations?
Jesus in His lessons knew His audience and at times adapted His
message for His audience. A
good example of this is John 6 where He spoke of being the bread of
life. He had an audience
that within consisted of many following Him just for the meals and
miracles (to be entertained) (cf. John 6:26-27).
NOTE: Sometimes, the audience needs to be reminded of basic principles
they already knew. First
principle lessons and distinguishing characteristics need to be
presented often, if for no other reason than to remind us of simple
truths. When time goes by
without hearing the basics, they tend to be shoved aside or taken for
granted.
iv.
Some of
His topics included – (repentance which He addressed often), the Kingdom
of heaven, How He was the Bread from Heaven, the Light of the world, and
our Shepherd.
e.
His
preaching was understandable
i.
He spoke
in the language of the people and with words they could relate to.
He did not speak as an overinflated professor who knows he knows
more than his students and has to show off (cf. 1 Cor. 2:1).
ii.
He sought
to give an understanding of difficult or spiritual concepts.
An example of this was the parables.
We will see how Jesus used illustrations to help people
understand
f.
He
preached with authority – as in all His teaching, He demonstrated
authority.
AT the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount we read in Matthew 7:28-29,
“And so it was, when Jesus had
ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
g.
He
preached the truth. He
proclaimed the whole truth even when it was unpleasant.
h.
He lived
what He preached – Jesus was consistent in His life and His teachings.
His enemies and critics could NEVER find any violation of the
Law of Moses in His life.
They found that He did not keep their traditions, but they could not
condemn Him concerning the Law.
He even challenged them in that (John 8:46).
1 Pet. 2:21-22.
He condemned leaders who said one thing and did something different
(Matt. 23:2-4).
He preached on respect for the Law and He kept the Law (Matt. 5:17-20,
etc.).
He preached for us to love one another (cf. Matt. 5:44, John 13:34-35)
and He loved us.
i.
His
attitude in preaching was not hateful or arrogant.
He truly cared and it showed in the words He chose.
j.
He called
for a decision – one of the distinguishing elements of preaching
(compared to teaching) is the call for a decision.
Teaching simply instructs (such as Jesus training His apostles,
etc.), but preaching, on one preacher said, “storms the will”.
In our next lesson, we will examine what is perhaps the most
famous sermon of all time, The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7).
As He concluded that lesson, He called for obedience (Matt.
7:21-27).
k.
It was NOT
accepted by all. There were
many occasions when Jesus taught and His message was rejected.
In Nazareth, Luke 4:18-30 records their rejection as He declared
Himself to be the Son of God.
He was accused of blasphemy, performing works in the name of
Satan, ignorance and many other things. All because they did not like
His message. In fact, it was
His teaching and preaching that prompted them to put Him to death (John
11:45-50).
John 6:66 after His discourse (sermon) on Jesus as the bread of life in
which He “offended” some of His disciples, many walked with Him no more.
Jesus was discouraged, but He never gave up and did not quit
preaching and teaching.
Truly, the teaching and preaching of Jesus are worthy of our
consideration. A part of our
lives as Christians is sharing the gospel with others.
We could learn a great deal from studying the life of our Lord in
these things. If we
will follow the example of Jesus, we will not win everyone (nor will we
have the success that Jesus had because of our limited abilities), but
we will enhance our opportunities and our probability of success.
Furthermore, even if men reject the truth, we will have done what
was our duty to do.