Life of Jesus: The Teachings of Jesus

Throughout His ministry, Jesus’ followers addressed Him using various titles to signify their relationship to Him. The most common title for Jesus in the New Testament is “Lord” or “Master” which appears over seven hundred times. However, when we narrow our focus to the Gospels, we notice another equally important title being used: “Rabbi” or “Good Teacher” (Mark 10:17; John 3:2).

And yet Jesus said about the scribes and Pharisees in…

Matthew 23:6–12 (LSB) “And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by men. 8 “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 “And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 “Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Rabbi - In New Testament times it was a title of respect used by a common person in reference to the scribes or by a student in reference to his teacher.

Father - Father was seemingly a title of respect for leaders in the Faith

Teacher - The emphasis of the word is upon leadership and guidance. It denotes a teacher. However, the aspect highlighted in the use of kathēgētēs is guidance. The word is not used in the Septuagint and has only two occurrences in the New Testament, both in the same verse, Matthew 23:10. Here it refers to Christ as the only kathēgētēs the believer should follow.

Gilbrant, T. (1991). καθηγητής. In The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary. WORDsearch.

January 31, 2024 The Life of Jesus (6) - The Teachings of Jesus Wednesday

What made Jesus’ followers identify Him this way?

Were His teachings really so radically different from what people were used to hearing?

Jesus has often been described as countercultural, but the truth is, He engaged in first-century Jewish culture, using familiar imagery and relatable stories.

So what made His teachings stand out? We can only understand this by taking a closer look at the cultural context.

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A Few of the Parables of Jesus

1. The Mote and the Beam Matthew 7:1–5 2. The Good Shepherd John 10:1–8 3. The Wise and Foolish Virgins Matthew 25:1–13 4. The True Vine John 15:1–17 5. The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25–37 6. The Great Supper Luke 14:16–24 7. The Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16:19–31 8. The Sheep and the Goats Matthew 25:31–46 9. Wise and Foolish Builders Matthew 7:24–29 10. The Prodigal Son Luke 15:11–32 11. The Seats at the Wedding Luke 14:8–11 12. Marriage of King’s Son Matthew 22:1–14 13. The Talents Matthew 25:14–30 14. The Friend at Midnight Luke 11:5–8 15. The Unmerciful Servant Matthew 18:23–25[1] 16. The Shut Door Luke 13:24–30 17. The Two Sons Matthew 21:28–32 18. The Unjust Steward Luke 16:1–13 19. The Wicked Husbandmen Matthew 21:33–46 20. The Foolish Rich Man Luke 12:15–21 21. The Unfaithful Steward Luke 12:34–40 22. Faithful and Evil Servants Matthew 24:42–51 23. The Pharisee and the Publican Luke 18:10–14 24. The Lost Sheep Luke 15:1–7 25. Laborers in the Vineyard Matthew 20:1–16 26. The Sower and Seed Luke 8:5–15 27. The Wheat and Tares Matthew 13:23–30, 37–41 28. The Mustard Seed Matthew 17:19–21 29. The Leaven Matthew 16:6–12

Jesus’ primary way of teaching was through parables. Why did Jesus teach using parables?

Paul, a learned man and scholar did not use parables.

Matthew 13:10–17 (NKJV) And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

What do parables accomplish that simple and direct speech lacks?

They give a relatable “hook” to hang truths on.

Life Application Bible tells us: A parable is an extended metaphor to express a moral or spiritual truth. It can be a proverb, riddle, complex story, or extended comparison. The purpose for using them was to get people to think.

How does Jesus’ challenge inverse 9 help explain verses 11-12? How does faith open you up to more and more spiritual insight?

Life Application Bible: When speaking in parables, Jesus was not hiding truth from sincere seekers, because those who were receptive to spiritual truth understood the illustrations. To others they were only stories without meaning. This allowed Jesus to give spiritual food to those who hungered for it while preventing his enemies from trapping him sooner than they might otherwise have done.

How does the quotation from Isaiah (Vs.14-15) (Isaiah 6:9-10) explain the difficulty of understanding parables (vs.13)?

… it seems too harsh of Jesus to use the parables to keep people from believing.

While the parables may have been intended to be a means of God’s judgment on unbelievers, they also could not penetrate the hard soil of unbelief already characterizing unbelievers’ hearts.

This was originally given as a prophecy for Isaiah’s own day about how his fellow Israelites would receive God’s messages through him. Jesus witnessed the same reaction to his words.

These unbelievers had already rejected Jesus; no amount of explaining or talking would make any difference. The soil of their heart was hard; the seed of the word would not grow; the parables would be nothing more than strange stories to them.

Jesus was not hiding truth from sincere seekers because those who were receptive to spiritual truth understood the illustrations.

To the “path,” “thorn patch,” or “rocky soil” people, the parables were only stories without meaning. The parables allowed Jesus to give spiritual food to those who hungered for it; but for the others, Isaiah’s prophecy explained their situation.

“With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: ‘You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.’ ”

God told Isaiah that people would listen without understanding and look without perceiving (Isaiah 6:9); Jesus witnessed the same reaction to his teaching.

By quoting from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus was explaining to this inner group of followers that the crowd resembled the Israelites about whom Isaiah had written.

God had told Isaiah that the people would listen but not learn from his message because their hearts had hardened beyond repentance.

Yet God still sent Isaiah with the message because even though the nation itself would not repent and would reap judgment, some individuals would listen.

Jesus came to the Israelites hundreds of years after Isaiah, but the scenario was the same. Most would not repent because their hearts were hardened; but a few would listen, turn from their sins, and believe. The deafness to the message did not mean that the message was false or that the messenger was somehow at fault.

Jesus gives a new Beatitude in vs. 16-17. What have these disciples seen and heard that the prophets long to see and hear? Are WE included in this blessing? Why do you think so?

Jesus spoke to “them” (that is, the crowds at large) in parables because they refused to understand. However, the disciples (“you”) were blessed because they wanted to understand (even if they didn’t always completely understand)

The disciples were blessed above the people in the crowd because they were seeing and hearing what the prophets had foretold. God gave them spiritual enlightenment to understand and accept the person and the message of Jesus.

BELIEVERS’ PRIVILEGE

Old Testament believers saw and heard about a lot of important events pointing to God’s loving care (for example, the Exodus, the Goliath battle, the temple being built and rebuilt), but still God’s greatest news was murky and distant.

Disciples and followers who saw and heard Jesus were highly privileged. They were firsthand, eye-to-eye witnesses. They saw the Lord, heard him, walked with him.

But the real benefit belongs to us. We have Jesus, the rest of the New Testament, and nearly two thousand years of the Holy Spirit working through the church. What a privilege! Be grateful and glad. Make good use of the knowledge available to you.

How do parables influence or affect you and your way of living right now? Why?

Small groups: Which parable(s) has the biggest impact on you? Why?

A king hired two workers to work his land, the first worked all day and received one denarius (a day’s wage). The second worked only one hour, yet he also received a denarius. Which did the King love more? . . . Moses worked for the Lord for 120 years, but Samuel served the Lord for only 52 years [the entirety of both of their lives, according to tradition] nevertheless both are equal in the eyes of the Omniscient. (Semahot of Rabbi Hiyya 3.2)

Although the quote above may seem familiar to readers of the Gospels, it comes from a parable that was common in Israel a generation or two before Jesus’ birth. Jesus tells a similar parable in Matthew 20:1–15, adding a conversation between the landowner and the workers who were upset that everyone was paid the same amount, regardless of how long they had worked. The landowner’s words and actions tell us a great deal about Jesus’ view of His role, and the parable’s lesson becomes that much more meaningful knowing it came from the Messiah himself.

The integrity between Jesus’ teachings and His lifestyle is what gave Him such unique authority as a rabbi. Later in the New Testament, Jesus’ half-brother James wrote, “Faith is dead without good works” (2:26). The world won’t even be able to identify Jesus’ followers if our actions don’t line up with our message.

To what degree does your lifestyle line up with your claim to be a follower of Jesus?

Read Matthew 7:24–29 and compare it with the following rabbinic parable from Hebrew oral tradition:

Matthew 7:24–29 (LSB) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “And everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” 28 Now it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

One whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are numerous but whose roots are few, so that when the wind comes, it uproots it and overturns it, as it is said, “He shall be like a bush in the desert, which does not sense the coming of good. It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness, in a barren land without inhabitant” (Jeremiah 17:6). But one whose deeds exceed his wisdom, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are few but roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it out of its place, as it is said, “He shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream. It does not sense the coming of heat, its leaves are ever fresh. It has no care in a year of drought; it does not cease to yield fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8). (Avot 3:17)

Chapters of the Fathers or Ethics of the Fathers, ( written 190–230 CE) is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewish tradition.

What similarities and differences do you see between the two versions of the parable?

They both encourage substance over facade.

How did Jesus adapt the parable to fit His context, experience, and intended outcome?

What does this tell you about Jesus’ abilities as a teacher?

NEXT WEEK: Christ in the Synoptics

[1]Pentz, C. M. (1980). Outlines on the Parables of Jesus (p. 5). Baker Book House.