Incomparable: 7 Days With Jesusናሙና

Day 5: Astonishing Words; The Teachings of Christ, Mark 1:22

I’d like to consider with you what it must have been like to hear Jesus teach.

He was a master teacher, after all. In fact, Teacher is one of the main titles His followers gave Him. He must have been amazing to hear.

That’s the one word—amazed (along with its equivalent, astonished)—that the Gospel writers most often employed to describe how people felt when they heard Him minister in person. Some, of course, were “offended” by Him (Matt. 13:57), either by how unconventional He was or by His freedom to speak unpopular truth that targeted the hypocrisy in people’s hearts. But even the ones He offended couldn’t help being astounded by the things He said and the way He said them.

For those who are deeply familiar with Jesus’ story, it may be hard to comprehend just how refreshingly different He sounded to His listeners, and how much His teaching style contrasted with what they were accustomed to hearing. The scribes and rabbis and other religious teachers of the day spent their lives studying and dissecting the minute details of the Mosaic law. Straining out gnats is what Jesus called it (Matt. 23:24). He, however, taught about issues that really mattered—the kingdom of God, the King who reigns over it, and the enormity of purpose, freedom, and abundance that people could experience from Him.

Jesus didn’t rely on borrowed sources either. That’s another thing that amazed His listeners. They were accustomed to teachers who leaned heavily on tradition and precedent, on quoted references from what others had said in the past. But Jesus taught “like one who had authority, and not like their scribes” (Matt. 7:29). He knew what He was talking about.

Though He wasn’t formally trained, though He’d spent His formative years as a tradesman, He knew the Scriptures— not just the words but the wisdom. (By my count, He referenced passages from as many as twenty-four Old Testament books in His teaching and conversations as recorded in the Gospels.) And He knew how they applied to the lives of His listeners. When the truth He taught landed on people who genuinely wanted to hear, His words carried instant credibility.

They radiated another quality too: genuine love. Think how often the sermons of the scribes were delivered only to impress, to rack up scholarly credits, to inflate their own sense of superiority with the hot air of their lecturing. But Jesus’ concern was for His listeners— to engage their attention, to capture their imaginations, to touch their hearts with the truth. Instead of overwhelming them with His intellect, He taught them with stories and word pictures that they could relate to, keeping it all so direct and simple that even a child could follow.

Why? Because He truly cared about the people in His audience. He knew their hearts. He knew what they needed. And He wanted them to know the Father’s love as He did.

So where other teachers rambled, Jesus got straight to the point.

Where other teachers were hard to follow, He was orderly and sensible.

Where they waxed complex, He spoke with purity and clarity.

Where they hid behind words, He lived what He taught.
His teaching is timeless; it never becomes obsolete. It is eternally relevant—to every person in every culture in every time period of history.

And though Jesus drew large numbers of listeners, He didn’t pursue large numbers. Even in His epic Sermon on the Mount, the impression given to us in Scripture is that He started by talking with a small gathering of His disciples (Matt. 5:1), which grew over time into crowds (Matt. 7:28) as interested listeners drew closer to hear.

In fact, Jesus spent most of His time not preaching to crowds but interacting with His little group of twelve, often just a core group of three. In such intimate settings, Jesus wove eternal truth into everyday moments. He let His followers ask questions. He steered ordinary conversations into opportunities for talking about God’s perspective on themes both timely and timeless.

And there, I believe, is where we do our most effective teaching too—for we all are called to be teachers, whether or not we do it professionally. The author of Hebrews said it this way: “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again” (Heb. 5:12). We are to be not just recipients, but also conduits of Christ’s teaching—always passing on to others what we’ve learned from Him.

Our homes, our dinner tables, our small groups, and even our most casual interactions are teaching places. People may not fill up their notebooks with the things we say, but God can speak in up-close ways through people like us who love Him and His Word and who truly care for the spiritual well-being of those around us.

As Jesus did. When Jesus taught.

Thank You, Father, for sending Jesus to be our Teacher. In Him we see not only the methods of effective teaching but its heart—Your heart. May I never stop being a student of Jesus and Your Word. And may I be alert to opportunities to use what You’ve taught me to help teach others Your truth. AMEN.