A 10 - Jesus a Teacher
CHAPTER 10 - JESUS A TEACHER
THERE are four things to be considered in estimating the character of a teacher; his preparation for the task, the sources whence he derives his information, the nature of the truths he teaches, and the manner of their delivery. A fifth might be added, viz: the moral character of the teacher himself. But, as we have in a previous chapter dwelt on this topic, it is omitted here, save only to remark, that the doctrines of Jesus were as fully illustrated in his life, as they were lucidly expressed by his lips; for, if it be true, that “never man spake like this man,” equally true is it that never man lived like this man. The preparation necessary to become an instructor of others in great and important truths, is usually laborious and protracted. Ancient philosophers not only read much, and took long journeys to distant countries for this purpose, but often subjected themselves to the most rigorous course of life for its accomplishment. They retired from the noise of politics, and the stir of business; they shut themselves up in cloisters and even in caves, that their habits of thought might acquire the greater perspicuity and elevation. Nor was this all; feeling the insufficiency of mere reason, both to discover and to sanction the truth, they even sought intercourse with the Deity, or with some invisible agent, from whom, as pretended at least, they received some of their best instructions. The prophets of Israel seem also to have had a regular, and even a long probation, before entering on their office as public instructors. Hence Jeremiah complains of his youth, as a reason why he should not fill this office; and Hosea marks his case as a special exception to the ordinary course of things, inasmuch as he had been selected from “the herdsmen of Tekoa.” In reference to Moses, whose character and station as a public teacher, bore a stronger resemblance to Jesus than those of any other, his preparations were unusually thorough and extended. Providence placed him in the court of Pharaoh, where he was well instructed in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” Nor was this all; he was allowed to spend forty years after this in such meditations and studies as might tend to qualify him for the important office to which he was to be called. The training of Jesus was different from all these. Although, in obedience to the legal requirements of the Israelites, he entered not upon his public ministry until about thirty years of age, yet we have much. more evidence, during this period, that he was a mechanic, than that he was a scholar. He no doubt received an education similar to that of Peter and of John; but that he was educated in the schools, is expressly denied by one of his own historians. John 7:15. Jesus, then, may be said to have had no adequate preparation, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, for the great work of a moral and religious teacher. He had not been drilled in the metaphysics of Aristotle; he acquired no mental acumen from the disputations of the Stoics; he had not cultivated his taste with Plato or Homer; nor had he even been a regular pupil of the Scribes and Pharisees. In a high and peculiar sense he was both a self-made scholar and teacher. But what were the sources from which Jesus drew his doctrines? He evidently did not derive them from his education. This was no better, nor even as good, as that of many of his hearers. Equally certain is it, that he did not borrow them from the Jewish doctors. His doctrine and theirs were generally diametrically opposite. Nor could he have gathered them from the learned men of other countries. He had no intercourse with such men; nor did either his theology or morality agree with them. Whence, then, did he deduce those truths of divinity, and those lessons of morality, which have been so lauded by all candid minds for the last eighteen centuries? To this we reply, from two sources — from revelations already given, and from Heaven. No one can read the instructions of Jesus, and not be struck with his familiar and intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures of the Old Testament. He illustrates, enforces, and quotes them on all occasions, And although he often leveled to the dust the traditions of the elders, and the doctrines of men, yet he every where shows the greatest regard for the oracles of the living God. He put an infinite difference between tradition and Scripture; the writings of men, and the inspirations of Jehovah. The one he reverenced as the ancient Israelite did the temple, the altar, or the ark; the other, he regarded as the same Israelite did a common farm-house, a stable, or a barn. The one he reaffirms and inculcates, the other he often denies and subverts.
One source, then, of the doctrines of Jesus, was the Old Testament Scriptures. “He came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill.” In the language of another: “Although he proposed to erect a second temple of truth, the glory of which should eclipse the splendor of the first, yet he deigned to appropriate whatever of the ancient materials remained available.” 1 As to the moral truths, however, he altered none. The other source whence Jesus derived his doctrines was from Heaven. “My doctrine, says he, is not mine, but His that sent me.” John 7:16.
One of the most remarkable passages in the Old Testament is the following: “The Lord thy God, says Moses, will raise up unto thee a Prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken.” Deuteronomy 18:15. The allusion here is evidently to the Messiah. Joshua was not a prophet, but a general; and of the other prophets, none of them exercised such authority over the Israelites as Moses had done. This remarkable prophet or Messiah was to resemble Moses in many things; he was to be like him, yet he was to be superior to him; for the Israelites are directed to submit themselves entirely to his instructions and teachings, as announcing in all things the will of Heaven. The manner, however, in which Jesus received the will of Heaven, was totally different from that in which Moses received it. For this purpose Moses was called to the bush, called to the mount, or conversed with from the Shechinah — at most, he communed with the Holy One only “face to face.” This, it is true, is great honor for a mere mortal; and it is distinctly stated, that Moses was the only one ever allowed to approach so near to Jehovah. But the manner in which Jesus held intercourse with the Deity, was wholly different. He had no dream or vision; he was called to no particular place; there was no visible oracle to which he resorted. He was himself the bush, the mount, the Shechinah, the image of God. True, he prays to his Father; and on several occasions, that Father called to him out of heaven. This, however, was done mainly to establish the faith of men in his mission. There is no instance recorded, where either by prayer he sought to know the Divine will, or where by a voice from heaven, that will was made known to him. No; the knowledge of that will was internal and personal; it was not from another, but from himself. In the language of an Apostle, “In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:9.
It is owing to this mysterious and remarkable manner in which Jesus held communion with the Deity, that we often hear from him such language as the following: “No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Matthew 6:1-34; Matthew 7:1-29. “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou, then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” John 14:9-11. And the following, more remarkable still: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” John 3:13.
Such was the intimacy which Jesus had with the counsels of Jehovah. He is not caught up into heaven to learn them. No messenger is sent from heaven to communicate them. There is no trance or apparition. The holy oracle dwelt in him. The Divine mind emanated from him. His words were truth; they were attended with awful power; and his uttered will was unalterable and eternal. Surely such an one could not have been less than “God manifest in the flesh.” In reference to the truths, which this great Teacher delivered, they may be considered as the carrying out, or completion of a previously existing and partially developed system. He came not to “destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill.” The Old Testament Scriptures had left things in a half-finished state. A peculiar providence is there exhibited as cleaving to a certain people, amid all their infirmities and rebellions, without an adequate reason. A host of types are there displayed, all significant, all instructive, all useful, yet all referring to a future something, as yet undisclosed, and which was to constitute upon its manifestation, a key to all these religious symbols.
Numerous prophecies are there recorded, all referring to one who had not as yet appeared; and all speaking of a kingdom not as yet commenced.
Revelation is there presented as half-made — religion as half-taught — the Church of God as half-built. It was left, therefore, for the Messiah, upon his appearance, to illustrate and complete a system, thus left in an unfinished state. This great work, Jesus of Nazareth accomplished. His history vindicated the providence of God towards the Jewish nation for preceding thousands of years. His teachings completed whatever was left obscure or unintelligible in previous revelations, and his death as an atonement for sin, unlocked the symbols of the past, and gave to ancient sacrifices and offerings their true and intended meaning.
Even then, if Jesus had never opened his mouth as a teacher, even if one unbroken silence had sealed his lips from the manger to the grave; still, his very life would have been instruction, and his every act an elucidation of some great doctrinal truth. But he did speak. Of him it is expressly said, that “He opened his mouth, and taught.” And what teachings! In what is called his Sermon on the Mount, what a powerful elucidation and application of the moral law! In his parables, what beautiful and striking paintings of the new system he was about to set up! Who can read the one, without feeling the sword of the Spirit pierce the inmost recesses of his soul? Who can contemplate the other, without being inwardly drawn towards truths so inimitably depicted, and without being captivated by a teacher so simple yet so sublime, so faithful, yet so tender in all his instructions! The doctrines of Jesus, so far as they may be considered as peculiar to a new system, or as constituting the second part of an old one, may be divided into three classes. They refer to the manifestation of the Godhead in man’s redemption, to the duties obligatory upon those to whom the knowledge of such redemption should be communicated, and to the final results of his mission in the world to come. The teachings of Jesus reveal God in the work of man’s redemption. In the works of nature, God has always been revealed to the eye of reason; “for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” Jehovah had also been revealed to Israel as a lawgiver. Amid the darkness and smoke of Sinai, the lightnings of his inflexible justice were made fearfully to play; and the thunders of his indignation awfully to roll. In the incipiency too, of redemption, God was exhibited to the ancients, as a God of mercy. Every angelic visitant, every sweet promise, every burning lamb manifested the graciousness of the divine nature. It was left, however, for the Messiah, the Son of God, fully to make known the character of Jehovah, as a God of mercy. Hence it is said of Jesus, “no man hath seen God at any time the Only Begotten which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” — And again, “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17; John 1:18. The paternal relation of the Deity to mankind, is clearly and strongly stated by Jesus. Does he teach his disciples to pray? he begins in the endearing manner — “Our Father, which art in heaven.” Matthew 6:1-34. Does he teach them confidence in divine providence? It is by telling them, “your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Matthew 6:1-34. Does he leave them in a world of trial and affliction? It is with the assurance — “I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” John 20:17. The eternal Sonship of the Mediator is also clearly exhibited by Jesus. “I,” says he, “and my Father are one.” The Jews being about to stone him for this declaration, the reply of Jesus is, “Many good works have I shown you of my Father; for which of those good works do ye stone me?” The reply is, “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” Jesus proceeds to vindicate himself from such a charge. “Is it not written in your law, I said ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came — say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but, if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” John 10:1-42. The personality and work of the Spirit are also clearly taught by Jesus. “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.” John 16:1-33.
Thus did Jesus remove the thick darkness which surrounded the throne of the Eternal, and make known to a world of sinners, the character of God as a God of compassion and of grace. The Father pities the miseries and ruin of our world; the Son becomes incarnate and dies for its redemption; and the Spirit, by illuminating the hearts of men, and eradicating their moral pollutions, applies the grace of salvation, and constitutes them for ever the sons of the living God. The duties inculcated upon those to whom the knowledge of redemption should come, are repentance, faith and holy obedience. The doctrine of the atonement effectually “condemned sin in the flesh,” and not only rendered repentance obligatory, but acceptable. The price Of the sinner’s pardon also exhibited the evil of sin, and was well calculated to break and subdue any heart, not made of marble and stone. Nor was this all; the great Teacher demands an implicit faith, not only in his doctrines as divinely true, but also in his sacrifice as amply sufficient for the sins of men. Not a word he uttered is to be discredited, for he is himself “the truth” of God. Nor is another sacrifice to be mentioned, for he, and he only, is “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”
These are the foundation duties, but others are also enjoined. Pride, anger, covetousness, worldly mindedness, every evil passion and act, are all condemned. Humility, meekness, purity, zeal, devotion, and brotherly love, are all enjoined. His disciples are to consider themselves as the citizens of heaven, as the sons and heirs of God, as the brethren of a common family; and they are exhorted to make Jehovah himself their pattern and example. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. If persecuted, they were not to resist, and if put to death, they were not to desert the faith taught them.
External commotions were not to separate them from their Master; nor were internal agitations to alienate them from each other. United to Jesus by a common faith, they were to be united to each other by a common affection; and having renounced the world at the beginning of their discipleship, they were never more to allow it an ascendency over their hearts. They were to be “the light of the world;” and “the salt of the earth;” and upon their full and patient exemplification of the doctrines of their Master, was to depend, not only the honor of their Christian character, but the esteem among men of Christianity itself. But the teachings of Jesus were also prospective; they embraced another world. And here, one cannot but remark the vast superiority of his instructions above those of the ancient prophets. These prophets saw futurity at a great distance; and although they describe it, they describe it as one would a foreign country, and not as he would speak of his own.
There is a veil thrown over it, and their images are east indistinctly upon that veil. The actual geography of the future is not laid before us, nor do we seem to know and commune with its inhabitants. On the contrary, the doctrines of Jesus bring “life and immortality to light.” Heaven and hell with him are places not far from Judea, and eternity presses upon the sun of tomorrow. There is no faintness or imperfection of description, but one has only to lift the eye, and he sees at once, as living realities at hand, all the glories or horrors of the invisible state. Here the soul of the rich man quails and cries in all the miseries and woes of the second death; there Lazarus reclines in the bosom of Abraham, with not an affliction felt, with not a want ungratified. Here the sudden cry, “the Bridegroom cometh,” arouses the drowsy expectants of future glory; there the great white throne collects before it all the assembled sons of Adam. Here, on the one hand, we see the wicked, associated with devils, their former tempters and accomplices in crime, hastening to their final allotments in the world beneath; there, on the other, we contemplate the righteous, justified and vindicated, ascending to the realms of glory, to dwell for ever in the paradise of God. Here hell exhibits its lurid flames, its deathless worm, its ceaseless wailings and gnashings of teeth; there the loud song of heaven falls upon the ear, and the glorified worshippers are seen occupying their everlasting mansions. The veil is torn away, and the hearer of the great Teacher seems to see before him, in all the distinctness of actual vision, the realities of the future state. The manner in which Jesus taught was adapted not only to the nature of his subjects, but also to the character of his hearers. What sublimity, and yet what simplicity, in his style! His thoughts are majestic enough for the contemplation of angels; and yet his language is plain enough for the comprehension of children. There is no pomp, no parade. The speaker never attempts to exalt himself or to astonish his hearers. All the ordinary accompaniments of scholastic oratory are unknown; yea, despised. There is no exact position of the feet, no regular and studied extension of the hand, no foretaught intonations of the voice, no contortions of the countenance. On most occasions, he does not even stand to speak. He either sits upon the side of a mountain, or occupies a seat in a fisherman’s boat. There is, too, no scaffold or pulpit built for him; no particular place assigned him, where the people are to expect an oration, or to anticipate a sermon — circumstances seem to have arranged all these. He is as ready on the road-side as in the temple; at the dinner-table as in the synagogue. He speaks to a few as readily as to a multitude; and to one class of persons as promptly as to another. His subjects were also selected in the same manner. There is no previous notice given to the people that he is to deliver a discourse on the law, or on the general judgment, against the errors of the Pharisees, or concerning the nature of his kingdom. His teachings seem generally to have resulted from some question asked him, or from some object brought incidentally before him. Do the birds of heaven fly over his head, or the lilies of the field bloom beneath his eye?
He employs them in his discourse to inculcate confidence in the providence of God. Are the fishermen casting their net into the sea? He illustrates thereby the effects of his gospel in saving men. Does he attend a marriage-supper? He makes the customs of society, the midnight procession, the burning torches, and the cry of the porter, all to illustrate and enforce the great truths of futurity. Does he sit at the dinner-table among self-seeking guests? He inculcates humility in the selection of places in this world. Is the exclamation heard — “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God?” He seizes at once upon the remark, and exhibits by it the exceeding reluctance of men, and especially of the Jews, to embrace the glad tidings of salvation. Do the disciples point to the magnificence of the temple? He takes occasion to predict its downfall, and even extends his remarks to the fading away of all earthly glory, and the final introduction of his eternal kingdom. With him, wells of water, dinnertables, vines, the shepherd watching his flock, the sower casting his seed, the reaper cutting down his harvest, the eyes of the blind, the weakness of childhood, the rigor of creditors, the questions of enemies, and the mistakes of friends, all, all are texts from which he discourses; and with which he associates an elevation of imagery and a grandeur of thought, unsurpassed in the history of human instruction. Nor are we left simply to the reported discourses of Jesus to ascertain the excellences of his mode of communicating truth. The effects of these discourses on the multitudes at the time, show their wonderful power. What vast audiences heard his sermon on the mount! What crowding companies pressed upon the sea-shore to listen to him as he sat in the fisherman’s boat! What numbers crowd around the private houses where he teaches!
What anxiety to hear him! What fixed attention! What bursting applause!
Now the officers affirm, “Never man spake like this man.” Now the people are said to be “astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes.” And now the inmates of the synagogue are all “amazed at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” And yet, this great philosopher, this popular preacher, this more than a prophet, is but an un educated Galilean! Well may we ask, as did his acquaintances of Nazareth, “From whence hath this man these things, and what wisdom is this which is given unto him?” Mark 6:2.
Why so superior to all other Galileans? Why so much exalted above philosophers and sages, above patriarchs and prophets? It cannot be ascribed to birth, or education. It cannot be ascribed to cunning and management. It cannot be attributed to either faction, or fanaticism, for the one was too weak even if it existed; and the other does not appear either in the life or doctrines of Jesus. Surely, if we had only the teachings of this remarkable personage as evidence before us, we should be compelled to admit, that if ever a Messiah was to come, he must be the person, and that if ever God dwelt in man, it was in Jesus of Nazareth.