Jesus, Our Wise Teacher

Introduction

We are studying through the Gospel of Mark

And we are nearing the end of chapter 12

Most of Jesus’s ministry has come to wraps

Jesus is in Jerusalem at Passover

And in a few short days—the cross awaits Jesus

But the past few weeks we’ve looked at several encounters that Jesus has had with the religious leaders

And each time he knew exactly how to answer them

These are the best and brightest Israel has to offer—but they cannot stand to this young rabbi that is causing up a storm

And for the past four weeks we’ve looked at several of these encounters

But today I want to take a step back—to see the thread that ties all of these debates together

In Mark chapter 12, we see that Jesus is wise

He’s not just a miracle worker

A spectacle

And I think this is extremely important for all of us today

Because as Christians—we have to have the right view of who Jesus is

Jesus is our Savior

Jesus is our Lord

Jesus is our teacher

Many Christians live their lives professing belief in Jesus—but they may not be sitting under Jesus, learning from him

We’ll talk about this later, but we often distance Jesus in our minds from wisdom

We think that because he lived 2,000 years ago… that he doesn’t have the wisdom for how we should live our lives

Instead we place our trust in researchers, specialists, life-coaches, online articles, youtube videos, and so many so called ‘experts’

But my hope today is that you would see Jesus as your teacher

That you would taste and see the wisdom that he has that transcends time and cultures.

Scripture Reading

Mark 11:27–28 CSB

27 They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came 28 and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”

Mark 12:12–13 CSB

12 They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away. 13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Jesus to trap him in his words.

Mark 12:18 CSB

18 Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him:

Mark 12:28 CSB

28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

In Mark chapter 12, everyone is after Jesus, trying to discredit is teachings and authority

Chief priests

Scribes

Elders

Pharisees

Herodians

Sadducees

But Jesus remains on top

I want to talk today about how Jesus still remains above all of the other voices that are vying for our attentions

All of the voices that seek to make fun of Jesus and his ways

The voices of experts that are telling us how we should live our lives.

We are All Searching for Wisdom

We live in a world with numerous ‘experts’ who are all offering wisdom and their advice

(What sort of experts do you listen to?)

Fitness

Beauty

Hobbies

Health

Money

Success

And ultimately we seek these people because we think that what they have to offer is what we are missing

And often we push out Jesus and place him into a box

Sure Jesus is an expert, but only in the small field of religion or morality

Do any of you think like this?

What we are seeing in Mark chapter 12 isn’t just that Jesus is a good debater

Jesus is wise

Jesus was the wisest man to ever walk this Earth

Do you actually believe that?

He is not simply an expert in religion

He is an expert on what it means to be human

And what our purpose and meaning to our lives are

So today I want to talk about an aspect of Jesus that we tend to over look

Jesus is our Rabbi (or teacher)

What does Jesus teach us?

All of our teachers teach us something… so what does Jesus have to teach us?

Science teachers teach us science

Math teachers teach us math

English teachers teach us English

Is it just about theology? Who God is?

Partially, but that is not the main goal

Jesus is teaching us to become like him, not just to have the right ideas in our minds

Jesus as our teacher, isn’t just some intellectually stimulating process

Think of it more like an apprenticeship

What do I have to do if I want to learn to plumbing?

Learn through experience and guiding

Understanding of Rabbi

Not just teaching you the scriptures

teaching you to become like them—so you can make disciples like them

We have been passed down the way of Jesus from generation to generation for thousands of years