By: General James Green (p. 2 in Issue Sixteen of The Tribal Call)
Jesus was and is the world’s best teacher: both unique and ultimate. However, many men may differ about Him in other respects. Irregardless of how much they may disregard, or disobey His teachings, few are able to deny His teachings and qualify them as “untrue or false.” Because what He taught is the ideal and the truth, and the teachings of Jesus are more widely referred to than the teachings of any other teacher known to man. Jesus is the teacher who is more widely quoted than any other, and although there are some who declare that His teachings are too ideal and impractical for common, everyday usage, all have to agree that if His teachings were put into universal application, they would cause to come forth a new social and economic order and transform entire civilizations!
Seeing the crowds, He (Jesus) went Up on the mountain and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and TAUGHT them….” Matt. 5:1,2 Amplified
Erect in youthful grace and radiant with glory came Jesus to sinful men and women, boys and girls. Jesus Christ was and is our universal seminary at which mankind is evermore learning. He was and is the most remarkable phenomenon in human history. God’s only begotten Son became the “Son of man”, the representative and example of sinless humanity. He teaches about love and war, curses and blessings, religion and politics. Supreme in sympathy and unparalleled in power, Jesus laid down His life for us.
Pick up the Bible and start reading Matthew 5: 1-48 and catch Jesus teaching in the outdoors (not in a fancy church) with common people sitting or standing in natural surroundings, pupils of the greatest Master in time. The teachings of our Lord have been the inspiration, the creative and constructive forces in the development of Christian civilization. In a world gone mad, we need now more than ever to reapply His teachings. Never were they more needed than right now. This is our generation. This is the hour that His disciples need to devoutly and devotedly teach and preach His principles with conviction. When the world is at wit’s end and the church miserably in bondage to sin and the rudiments of wickedness, we need to reaffirm our loyalty to Jesus and His principles. Let us put ourselves into His school once again. Let us make ourselves available as we read in Mark 3:14, “And He appointed twelve to continue to be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach (as apostles, missionaries).”
You might think, “I am a Christian; I go to church “. Yet the great commission tells us that we are to first learn, then teach others about what we have received. We are to give away the principles we have been given, not sit like bumps on logs, ever learning yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus never once told His disciples to “go to church”. He trained His disciples to go forth as ambassadors of His Kingdom into all nations! We are to give forth as we have been given: principles of spiritual birth, death to self, growth of the new man, living in a right relationship with God and humanity. We are to share as we have received; lessons about sin and salvation, faith and love, mercy and judgement. As we learn to see ourselves and to identify the sins inherent to humankind, we are to likewise admonish others as to the statutes & tenets of righteous living to which we are expected to adhere in the heavenly Kingdom. We are to likewise teach others the necessity of Christian character and the far-reaching effects of the same. We must never forget His sacrificial death, but call to remembrance to ourselves and others, the price that has been paid for our redemption. Likewise, the miracle of His resurrection and ascension are. truths which must be passed on to generations yet in the balances.
Jesus never taught His disciples how to extract money from church members, nor did He indulge in entertainment of the members, nor did He teach His disciples to remain in the perpetual babyhood realm. Jesus taught the truth, and He stood for the principles of righteousness. He did not bow to sin nor turn away from the hypocrisy which was evident amongst the religious, but rather, He faced the issues as they were and called sin, SIN! Jesus never taught His disciples to “sell the gospel” through the writing and selling of books, nor through cassette tapes, videos or music concerts. No, indeed He lived simply, taught freely, and looked to His Father to provide. He did not promote a lifestyle of luxury or extravagance, but rather a simple life of faith in the goodness of the Father. Let’s face it: the garbage today being touted as ”teachings of Jesus” is nothing more than the lust of greedy men and women who are looking for nothing more than to live as kings and queens in this earth and make a prey of the sheep!
The school of Jesus was unique. It was not a soft, loose, “do your own thing” style of learning, but it was militaristic in style and character. The basic tenet of Jesus’ teaching was discipline, coupled with determination and duty. He was radical in His approach, and He taught as one with authority, not like the rabbis who depended upon extensive learning and proud display. His message was from the heart, and it went into the depths of men’s souls. Jesus defied the religious system of His day, going instead to the common people wherever they could be found, in their needs, in their sorrows and sicknesses, in their desolation of soul. He went to them and taught the law of mercy, the doctrine of compassion, and the tenet of forgiveness. He lived what He believed, and by example, He won them to Himself, despite the opposition of the wicked religionists. He was a man of authority—the greatest authority—Godly authority. So thorough were His teachings that He gave His life to conclude His message. So sound has that message remained throughout the centuries that millions have come to know, believe, and trust that He was, is, and always shall be the greatest teacher of all time. Jesus appealed to the common man because He taught through everyday examples. He walked amongst the poor and manifested the power of His Father unto men and women, boys and girls. Unlike the proud religious leaders of His day, Jesus was not afraid to trust His Father in every circumstance. The Bible says of Him in John 2:25 that, “…He knew what was in man”.
There are plenty of men and women who can learn of Jesus and His teachings in their minds, but there are very few who will take the time and endure the pain of knowing Him thoroughly in their hearts. Mere book knowledge will not replace the way that the Holy Ghost desires to lead us to know Him and to that which is written on the tables of our hearts. Of course, Jesus visited the Synagogues, the nests where the religious demons kept their poison, but He called them what they were. He did not play hypocrite with them. Jesus was not afraid to identify wickedness and to declare unto the so-called leaders of the flock of God that they were in grievous error and were the children of the devil. The bitterness which counter assaulted Jesus from the religious demi-gods is the same spirit of religion which hates the Truth unto this day. Wherever religious men have built their kingdoms, they despise the infiltration of the truth, because the truth will expose them for the destroyers of souls and the devourers of life that they are.
The teaching of Jesus was moving, not stagnated in one place but moving out among those who were athirst. The Lord did not establish a system of religious feudalism but rather He intermingled with those who were in need, who were bound in their sins, who were crippled and sick, who were dying. Some of those who chose to follow Jesus came from a school of the followers of Aristotle. They were trained to walk and were taught—fitting it was that Jesus led the way in the walk of righteousness! Wherever Jesus went, there was a school, for He was the teacher. To the western mind, a school is usually a building or a set of buildings run by a group of teachers. But Jesus was a different kind of teacher, and wherever He went, the circumstance became His school and He taught. The Scripture does not tell us that Jesus stopped and raised money to build a beautiful Bible college with His name on it, but rather He taught wherever and however He could. He taught principle, He taught love, He taught understanding, and He taught judgment. Jesus never had a beautiful chariot, but He walked. The ministers of today would have heart failure if they even had to walk one mile to the house of God. But it says of Jesus that He “. . .went on His way (on foot) through the cities and villages, teaching” (Luke13:22). Jesus taught His disciples as they all walked together!
What is it that makes Jesus unique and drastically different from the other religious figures who have come and gone upon the earth? Very simply this: He is “THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Jesus wrote no books, yet His eternal words spoken have been recorded and passed on from generation to generation. The holy Scripture tells us that “heaven and earth shall pass away but my words (Jesus speaking) shall not pass away” Matthew 24:35. The teachings of the founders of the world’s major religions are mere words, and they shall pass away as do all the rudiments of men. But we can trust and rely upon the words of Jesus, the Son of the Living God. His Word is holy and solid, “…that thou might know the certainty of those things, wherein thou has been instructed” Luke 1:3,4. The Moffatt translation says, “…to let you know the solid truth of what you have been taught.”
Jesus had a close relationship with His pupils—His disciples. They were a real team, fitly framed together. They walked, talked, worked, and lived together—a small community, a mobile school. Jesus and His band of new warriors attacked the issues of His day, religion being their biggest target. They exposed and assaulted the evil spirits that kept people bound. Jesus worked miracles, and He rebuked sins, personal and national. Yet, He willingly interacted with the sinners and publicans whilst keeping Himself unspotted. Jesus started a new culture, and He was the Cult Leader. The members enrolled were few while He lived, but grew steadily after His death and resurrection. Jesus was not a man whose pride was offended by small numbers, because His work was not to be seen and heard of men, but to please His Father. What a wonderful school Jesus laid down the pattern for! He had lectures, discussions, criticisms, expositions, illustrations, personal interaction, and living experiences.
“Having loved His own…He loved them unto the end” John 13:11. Can we, His disciples, His soldiers, His missionaries, do less? Can’t we love Him enough to carry on with His work? Can’t we love enough to avoid the distractions of sex, race, and social class? Although Jesus school while He walked among us was temporary and evolved through a handful of chosen vessels, His greater, enduring school of the Spirit is still open for enrollment. The brave man walking the shores of Galilee has had His influence spread around the world, throughout the centuries, and it has become the most renowned Spiritual university in the universe, with adherents to His message being found throughout all nations.
Wouldn’t you like to enroll in the school of Jesus? Because of the teacher, because of the knowledge, because of the wisdom made available, this school will never be closed down or done away with. In fact, many disciples, became the first martyrs; they were willing to lay their lives down as the Master teacher had laid His life down. They had learned from the example of the One who was perfect love. Those first students who sat at the feet of the Master and learned are remembered likewise throughout the centuries for the privilege they had of personal and intimate fellowship with Jesus, the world’s divine Saviour and Lord.
What followers of any other master have had such a lasting memorial and impact as the original men who followed, who loved, who learned from the Master Teacher? What other disciples have gained such acclaim as these common men chosen by the Lord? Truly, there are none to compare, because none had the privilege, nor the instruction that they received. Their influence (the power of God) still remains, even to the ends of the earth, because their teacher was divine and His influence was eternal. The Master Teacher, with His small, unpretentious school, and His common people followers, left for us the pattern, the Way of eternal life. And this eternal life is available to any and all who will follow the Master—here, now, TODAY. And what is more, He has sent the Holy Spirit of God to lead and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). No other teacher left such a legacy on earth!
It was to His few chosen pupils that Jesus committed the continuance of His divine teachings and work under the Great Commission (Matt, 28:19,20). Now, centuries later, we each have a wonderful duty to perform in that commission, “…to teach all nations”. The Jesus of history, we can all appreciate, but there is more: Jesus can even now become your personal friend. Right now, you can receive Him with just a simple prayer. You too can become a disciple and sit at the Master’s feet, for He still walks among us in the Spirit. You can receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, filling you to overflowing, and prove to the world by example and precept that you have been with Jesus and learned of Him.
If you want to help change the world, start by changing!