Reflections on How Jesus Taught

Jesus talks a lot about following Him. ( Luke 9:23, Matthew 4:19) Paul says to follow him as he follows ( or imitates) Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) If we receive Jesus as our example in how to live a life pleasing to God, then those who teach should teach as He taught. How did He teach? First, with authority. The famous Sermon on the Mount does not end with the example of the house, or life, build upon the rock rather than the sand, i.e. doing what God says rather than just hearing them. Rather it concludes with verses 28 and 29. "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." ( Matthew 7:28-29 ESV) The background is that the scribes in their teaching, referenced the opinions of rabbis from earlier times. When we teach we should not give people our opinions but the Word of God. Acts 17:11 speaks of the people in the city of Berea being more noble than those in the city of Thessalonica because they examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true. Paul the apostle charges his disciple Timothy to "preach the Word." ( 2 Timothy 4:1-2) Did Jesus find it necessary to entertain people or tell jokes to attract their attention? I don't find this in the Gospels. Is it sinful to tell a clean joke? No, but if we are following the example of Jesus in our teaching, He did not do so. What about Jesus relating to people? Certainly the parables that He told used everyday examples like mustard seeds, grains of wheat, the sky turning red. But Jesus did not court popularity or compromise with people. When the rich young ruler went away sorrowful after Jesus told him that he must give away all his possessions (Luke 18:18-30), Jesus did not run after the man pleading with him, or changing the conditions. "Well, if you give 50% of your possessions. You don't have to give all." Not in there. In John 6:53 Jesus says, "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day..." The unescapable conclusion is that Jesus is talking about cannibalism, and He never really explains it. Jesus did not make it easy for people Him. When they wanted to make Him an earthly king, He refused. Jesus never compromised the truth of the Word of God to gain an audience. We must follow His example.

February 15 reflections on verse by verse exegesis

Reading through the initial chapters of Deuteronomy this morning i was reminded of often the New Testament utilizes the Old. Deut. 4:24 reads, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." Compare that with Hebrews 12:29, "for our God is a consuming fire." Other examples include the great commandment in Deut. 6:3, used by Jesus while being tempted in Matthew 4, and the ten commandments of Deut. 5, nine of which are repeated in some fashion in various places in the NT. Recently i skimmed a website of a newly popular association of evangelical churches. Many of their convictions appeared strongly Biblical but one concerned me. This regarded people looking to join or participate in a new church, and the characteristics which they should look for. The author insisted that the only type of Bible teaching permitted was verse by verse exegesis. The concern expressed was that those who teach thematically, using verse and passages from various places in the Bible could easily teach wrong doctrine. This seems reasonable unless one looks to the example of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. Do we find places where they exegete passages of Isaiah or the Psalms or other OT Scripture? Certainly they reference the OT, and sometimes at length but often this is a mixture of verses and even phrases drawn from many locations. Examples include Peter's sermon in Acts 2, where he uses Joel 2, Psalm 16, and Psalm 110, and Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 3:10-18, which references portions of at least nine different OT passages. If we believe that the Bible is the Holy Spirit inspired, eternal word of God, and that He worked through human authors (2 Peter 1:20-21, 3:2)and this is how the Spirit chose to write to us, do we have any basis for saying that only verse by verse exegesis is legitimate? Granted that we have certain passages and chapters that dwell on a particular subject such as love in 1 Corinthians 13 or faith in Hebrews 11 or giving in 2 Corinthians 8 & 9. But it is rare that the entire teaching of the Bible on a given subject is contained in one place. In fact, that usually indicates that something is not of overriding importance. Let us be adamant where the bible is clearly adamant; let us use caution where it is not.

Feb. 10 Reflections on Theological Liberalism

Theological liberalism is usually understood as those who do not believe that the Bible is inspired, inerrant and authoritative and the thoughts and ideas that proceed from that belief. I think there is a expanded sense of theological liberalism from those who in theory claim that the Bible is the Word of God, but, who in practice do not submit to God's teachings and commandments through the Scriptures. These people identify as Christians, and typically go to churches where the Bible is taught, at least to some degree. Yet their actions, values, decisions and lives reflect something other than adherence to Biblical truth. Generally they follow the culture, often never considering the cultural influence, simply defined as the beliefs and behaviors of a given group of people, on their lives. They are normally unaware that there is any discrepancy between their lives and what the Bible teaches. This in turn reflects a marked ignorance of what the Bible really says no matter how many years or decades of sermons that they have listened to. Any Biblical support that they can claim for their ideas or actions often consists of a phrase or two, possibly a whole verse or a theme. Why? Some are discouraged from believing that they can truly understand the teachings of the Bible because they think that they need specialized training and ancient languages. More simply will not devote the time and trouble to even read the Bible let alone attempt to master its contents. In some circles they are taught to rely on their feelings and claim that this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, not accepting the spiritual reality that the Holy Spirit is the divine author of the Word of God ( 2 Peter 1:20-21)and that He does not contradict Himself by inspiring one thing in the Bible and something completely different to you or me. What are some examples of theological liberalism? That the goal is a comfortable upper middle class life instead of the simple life espoused by Jesus and the apostles. ( Luke 8:14, 12:15, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6) That there is no difference in role as opposed to worth and value between men and women. ( 1 Timothy 2:12, Ephesians 5:22-33, 1 Peter 3:1-7, 1 Corinthians 11:8-9) That there is no place for physical correction of children. ( Proverbs 13:24,19:18, 29:15,17) That the goal is our pleasure and enjoyment of life. ( Luke 9:23, Galatians 5:24, Acts 14:22, 2 Timothy 3:12) What is the solution? To repent of our rebellion, surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and devour His Word so we know what will please Him.