Christ the Great Teacher

His Reputation and Power

What report did the officers bring who were sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to take Jesus?

“No one has ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared. John 7:46. 

How did Christ teach the people?

“Because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”

Matthew 7:29.

Note – “The teachings of the scribes and the elders was cold and formal, like a lesson learned by rote. To them the Word of God possessed no vital power. Their own ideas and traditions were substituted for its teaching. In the accustomed round of service they professed to explain the law, but no inspiration from God stirred their own hearts or the hearts of their hearers.”

Why was Christ’s preaching so impressive?

“They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.” Luke 4:32. 

With what was He filled?

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert.” Verse 1. 

How freely was the Holy Spirit given Him? 

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” John 3:34. 

Predicted Parables Astonish Men

How had Christ’s teaching by parables been foretold?

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old.”

Psalm 78:2.  

How was this fulfilled?

“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.” Matthew 13:34.

What question did Christ’s wonderful teaching call forth?

“Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. Verse 54. 

Jesus Exalts the Law

What did Isaiah say Christ would do with the law?

“It pleased the Lord for the sake of his righteousness to make the law great and glorious.” Isaiah 42:21.   

Because some thought He had come to destroy the law, what did Christ say?

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20.

His Burning Testimony

What testimony did Nicodemus bear concerning Him? 

He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

John 3:2. 

What did Christ’s words at Jacob’s well lead the woman of Samaria to ask?

‘Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

John 4:28,29. 

How were the two on the way to Emmaus affected by Christ’s conversation with them?

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32. 

In His teaching, to what did Christ direct attention?

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures. Verses 27, 44, 45.  

How did He encourage His disciples to look for the fulfillment of prophecy?

“So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand - then those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Matthew 24:15,16.  

“Blest they who seek

While in their youth

With spirit meek,

The way of truth.

To them the Sacred Scriptures now display

Christ  as  the  only  true  and  living  way;

His precious blood on Calvary was given

To  make  them  heirs  of  bliss in heaven.

And e’en on earth the child of God can trace

The    blessing    of    his   Savior’s    grace.

For  them  He  bore

His Father’s frown;

For  them  He wore

The   thorny   cross,

Nailed to the cross,

Endured   its   pain,

That  His life’s loss

Might  be our  gain.

Then haste to choose

That   better      part,

Nor    e’en    refuse

The Lord thy heart,

Lest    He   declare,

‘I   know   ye   not,’

And   deep  despair

Should be your lot.

Now look to Jesus, who on Calvary died,

And trust on Him who there was crucified.”

Christ and the Book – Christ was a faithful student, a consistent user, and a perfect expounder, of the Scriptures. He met temptation with the Scriptures; He proved His Messiahship by the Scriptures; He taught from the Scriptures; and He told His disciples to look to the Scriptures as their counselor and guide for the future. 

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