Why Jesus was effective as a teacher is a great thing for all of us to ponder.
I am going to share 12 points as to why I believe Jesus was effective:
1. He spent time in prayer to God. He knew how important it was to talk with his Father and find rest and refreshment for his spirit to do God’s will.
2. He spoke with authority. Jesus is the word of God, and when we understand Jesus, we understand God‘s heart and God‘s will. Every word he spoke was absolute truth.
3. He was fully God and was omniscient so he could look at the peoples' hearts and know what their motives were.
4. Jesus was also fully man so he felt all the emotions we feel, and understood the need for both physical and spiritual healing.
5. He did incredible miracles that opened the door for people to acknowledge he was the long awaited Messiah.
6. He was authentic and genuine in reflecting God’s amazing grace, compassion, and love. He practiced what he preached! Everyone who had faith to believe the truth that Jesus spoke received healing. As God incarnate, Jesus visibly demonstrated all the attributes of God. This is why he was an effective teacher, because his life was filled with the fruit of the spirit and people wanted that fruit in their lives!
7. He used warnings in his teaching. Jesus was completely committed to God’s will to execute the plan of reconciliation, and warned the people to repent as the kingdom of heaven was at hand. He did not mince words, but often angered and humiliated the self-righteous Pharisees.
8. He was informal in his teaching approach. No pretense, just true humility.
9. He often shared God‘s principles through parables. The people could understand these simple stories and would share them with others to spread the gospel.
10. He referenced everyday objects and experiences to share God’s truth that the people could relate to such as oil lamps, trees, birds, flowers, sowing seeds, working for your employer, tending sheep, etc.
11. He asked questions to make them think.
In Luke 8: 25 he asked “Where is your faith?” to the disciples who feared the raging storm to show them God is Sovereign over all creation and can calm any storm.
In Luke 8: 45 "Who touched me?” when the woman bleeding for 12 years touched the hem of his garment.
In Luke 9:20 when Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?”
12. He reached out to all people including the poor, the marginalized, and women because his message of hope is for everyone. God has no favorites! He preached that position, money and power are not important in God‘s kingdom. What matters is faithful obedience from the heart, not legalistic outward obedience in order to look good to others.
As his disciples, we need to emulate these characteristics to also be effective in our ministry & outreach to fulfill the great commission to be his witnesses and share the Good News!
Elaine Matthews
7/1/2020
