What did Jesus teach?
He taught about God's love for sinnersDo you remember the teachers you had at school? Some were good – and you learnt a lot from them. Jesus was a very good teacher. He often used parables in His teaching. Parables are interesting stories with a hidden meaning.
Three of Jesus’ parables compared sinful people, like us, to things that are lost and joyfully found. The lesson of all three parables is plain. There is rejoicing in Heaven when lost sinners come “home” to God.
God searches for lost sinnersThe first parable is about a lost sheep that a shepherd searched for and found. This parable (and the one after it) speaks of God looking for sinners, not sinners looking for Him.
Luke 15 v3-7Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? [5] And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
What is significant in this passage?
Jesus is just like that shepherd.
Luke 19 v10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
God welcomes lost sinnersThe third parable is about a son who had lived a very bad life. When he admitted his sin, his father welcomed him home. The son had lost his way in life. God is compared to the father in the parable. When we admit our sin, God joyfully welcomes us back.
Luke 15 v21-24"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him.Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it.Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
This parable also teaches us about repentance. Repentance is forsaking sin and returning to God. We shall consider this further when we come to Study 6.
He explained God's LawMan’s laws are intended to create a happier way of life. The law that tells us to stay on one side of the road prevents accidents. And laws that forbid stealing protect our property. God’s laws are also intended for our happiness. But God’s standards are much higher than ours.
Jesus taught that we must be perfectHe taught that we must be as good as God Himself. This may sound impossible (and it is), but it is what we were originally meant to be.
Matthew 5 v48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus taught the extent of God's LawHe showed us that God’s law covers everything we think and say, as well as what we do.
Matthew 5 v28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully hasalready committed adultery with her in his heart.
Jesus taught the importance of loveJesus said that if we love God and people as we should we would do what God’s law required. We may think we love everyone – but do we love our enemies?
Matthew 5 v44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
He taught that He must sufferWe all know that we must die someday. But we are not born with the express purpose of dying. We are born that we might live for a long time. Death is an unwelcome intrusion!
Jesus, on the other hand, spoke as if His death was the major reason for His birth. He foresaw a cruel death by crucifixion – one of the most painful and humiliating deaths anyone could experience. It was a remarkable prediction. Why should anyone wish to kill someone as kind as Jesus? He also predicted that He would come alive within three days of dying.
Jesus said he was born (on purpose) to dieHe said it was essential for Him to die and come alive. He told His disciples about it on three separate occasions.
Matthew 16 v21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Jesus said He would die for His sheepIn Jesus’ day, a good shepherd would risk his life to save his sheep from wolves. Jesus said He would die for His sheep (i.e. believers). He predicted the day when He would give His life in place of His sheep.
John 10 v11"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Finally, Jesus said that His death was a “ransom for many”. And just hours before He died, He taught His disciples a symbolic lesson with bread and wine. He spoke of them as emblems of His body and blood. They were to be taken as a perpetual reminder of His dying love for them. We shall consider in Study 4 the explanation given by the New Testament writers for Jesus’ death.
He said he would return to judgeWherever there are laws there are penalties for disobeying them. But those who are appointed to judge are not perfect themselves. And because they are not perfect, they will make mistakes – the innocent will sometimes suffer, and the guilty will go free.
Earthly judges deal with the more obvious sins of theft, violence, rioting, etc. but the hidden sins of hate, impurity, and greed, go unpunished by man. If a man were appointed to judge others for these sins he would need to be guiltless himself.
All wrongdoing is sin in God’s eyes, and deserves to be judged. But who is sufficiently sinless to undertake the task? Who is perfect enough to judge fairly? Who understands enough to take into account all the circumstances that cause us to act in the way we do? Jesus is the only person qualified; no ordinary person is good enough.
So, consider what Jesus said on this subject.
Jesus said He had been appointed as the world's judgeThis great honour, said Jesus, was given to Him by God – His Father in Heaven.
John 5 v22-23Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.
Jesus said He was the “Son of Man” as well as the “Son of God”. By saying this, He declared Himself thoroughly human. As a human being He appreciates man’s trials and difficulties. As a sinless human being, He understands perfectly, and will judge perfectly.
John 5 v26-27For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
Jesus said He would judge the world on His returnJesus did not say He would immediately judge the world. He said He had not come to judge it, but to save it. But He spoke of a day when He would come back to judge it. All nations would gather before Him and He would divide the saved from the unsaved.
Matthew 25 v31-32"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And FinallyJesus spoke of the need for an inner change that could only be achieved by God’s Spirit. This change was so radical that He compared it to being born all over again. Without this change it was impossible, He said, to enter Heaven. Have you experienced this change? If you have, you will want to follow the teaching of Jesus outlined in this study.
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