( Isaiah 9:6 ) 2. 6. Further, Jesus constantly kept the goal of their training before them. When an expert in the law asked Jesus how he might inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25), Jesus initial response (to obey the two great commands) prompted the follow-up question: And who is my neighbour? Jesus seized the opportunity to tell a story that confronted the corrosive ethnic animosity between Jews and Samaritans. Where, indeed, might all this lead us? Christians call this the Last Supper. He not only responded to questions but also asked them. Peters confession of Jesus messianic status was immediately followed by Jesus explanation of his role as Messiah: that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life (Matt 16:21). Matt 23:10; 26:18). God created the heavens & earth in six days--He also created the laws that govern the earth. After they had themselves been transformed by following Jesus, the disciples were in turn sent to make disciples. We know because this is the Introduction to the largest uninterrupted session of teaching we have recorded from Jesus. Both of Jesus' parents had "done everything required by the Law of the Lord" (Luke 2:39). tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It is about being more than talking, as Paul expressed to Timothy: You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings . It does mean, however, that all such study will be intentionally undertaken with a view, at some point present or future, directly or indirectly, to the actual making of disciplesthe fishing of men. In the Jewish culture of his day the disciple invariably took the initiative and attached himself to his preferred teacher, but Jesus was exceptional in calling the disciples he wanted.11 Implicit in becoming a disciple of Jesus and learning from him was a radical act of commitment to him which implied a renunciation of status and prestige, possessions and security.12 It became tangible as the first of the disciples responded to Jesus call, leaving boat, nets, and family. [9] R. E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism (2d ed. The Gospels record that "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues." Yet the Christian reader rarely ponders the significance of such an apparently common structure so central in Jesus . See also D. A. Hagner, Matthew 113 (WBC; Dallas: Word, 2002), 86. For the document see http://www.icete-edu.org/beirut/, accessed 03/03/2012. What then were the characteristics of his teaching, especially of the twelve? They were not engaged in a theoretical or abstract exercise; on the contrary, Jesus taught them through encountering real people and problems. The style of Jesus teaching, his educational approach, was obviously rich and varied. Today, worship leaders generally read the scriptures while standing and continue to stand for the sermon as well. sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed . The fact that these statements [in Psalm 110:1-2, 5] refer to the Lord [Jesus Christ] is his own teaching in Matthew 22:44. To teach the people When did all the people gather around Jesus? Looking at the historical context, we see that this Sermon was given in the interim period - the period between the time when the kingdom was offered to Israel, and the time when . 'Follow me and be my disciple,' Jesus said to him" (Luke 5:27, NLT). [8] D. A. Carson, Matthew, in MatthewMark (2d ed. He taught the twelve, and he taught the crowds. They saw how he related to family, friends, enquirers, authorities, and adversaries. The pursuit of answers to obscure questionsquestions which nobody is asking nor need ask and the answers to which will not assist the people of God in their engagement in Gods own missionhas no place in authentically Christian theological education. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Here is the Savior's answer: Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Even the wind and waves obey him! (Matt 8:27). Simply tinkering with isolated elements of the programme will not do since the problem lies frequently in the fundamental design or paradigm of learning in the institution,55 which too often reflects the dominantly cognitive approach characteristic of the tertiary education exported by the West.56. The commanders didn't engage in last-minute planning. Jesus took children in his arms and blessed them. Elmer and McKinney), 99. Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners 13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. 5. He Went To The Synagogue. [17] B. Hill, quoted by M. Griffiths, Theological Education Need Not Be Irrelevant, in Vox Evangelica 20 (1990): 12. We hear it, we read it, we confess it. Only the seed on the good soil is productive. ; Expositors Bible Commentary 9; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 148. [58] S. F. Rowen, Missiology and the Coherence of Theological Education, in With an Eye on the Future (ed. Jesus Sitting on the Well "Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour." John iv. On each occasion Jesus rebuked the attitudes that lay at the heart of the quarrel, but also turned the moment to advantage by teaching about power and service and especially drawing attention to the character of his own mission as the paradigm of true discipleship: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Each person would be lying on their left side and leaning on their left arm, with . . as well as in antiquity as a whole.32 Stylistic devices like repetition, parallelism, rhythm, alliteration, assonance, symmetry, suggest Jesus too designed his discourses for easy memorization.33 So, for example, speaking of the beatitudes (Matt 5:310), France notes that the finely balanced structure of these eight sayings is one of the best examples of the way Jesus designed his teaching for easy memorization.34 Such an approach implies the importance Jesus attached to the essential body of theological and ethical content he wanted his followers to grasp, and it helped to assure its faithful transmission to subsequent generations. Continuous exposure to one another made concealment of their real motives and attitudes difficult (although Judas evidently managed to conceal his), which may have brought out the worst in them but, for that very reason, also forced them to confront negative attitudes and reactions. [40] Macleod, The Christology of Wolfhart Pannenberg, 41. [13] M. Hengel, The Charismatic Leader and His Followers (New York: Crossroad, 1981), 5152; cited in Guelich, Mark 1:18:26, 51. Jesus call of the earliest disciples focused from the beginning on outcomes: they were to become fishers of men. In conclusion, we might consider whether the widespread university model of theological education with its predominantly cognitive and individualistic emphases is really adapted to the primary missional purpose for which Christian theological education should exist. The initial summons, therefore, always had that final commissioning in mind: there is a straight line from this commission to the Great Commission.8 It was an educational programme with a specifically vocational intent. Jewish law is the focus of many passages in the Gospels. . [my translation]). There is no third phase of God's Word in history. They may have hidden themselves in a locked room, but they hid themselves together. [54] Banks, Reenvisioning Theological Education, 105. . . Use this children's Sunday School lesson to teach children about how Jesus died for us to forgive us for our sins. [18] J. Nolland, Luke 1:19:20 (WBC; Dallas: Word, 2002), 452. Sitting down for a leisurely meal may be a lost art. Among other things this certainly means that the practical dimension of theological formation should not be the understaffed, underfunded, and largely neglected appendix to the real academic work of schools as often seems the case. The Gospel of Matthew indicates Jesus " went up on a mountain " before preaching the famous Sermon on the Mount. 1. [61] The quotation comes from the brief but substantial document, ICETE Manifesto on the Renewal of Evangelical Theological Education, first adopted by the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education in 1983. By sitting down the people would know the reading of scripture was finished and the words spoken from that point originated with the speaker, not from the prophets and writers of old. . [62] See, for example, A. F. Walls, World Christianity, Theological Education and Scholarship, Transformation 28 (2011): 23540. He was recreating human communion, fractured as a result of primeval alienation from the Creator, by restoring fellowship with God in whom all true relationship is grounded. As they lived and worked together, serving one another as well as Jesus, so too they learned from one another. Jesus wants his disciples to be childlike because young kids don't pretend to have it all . Moreover, learning is more likely to take place when people see the relevance of what is taught. Whose son is he? (Matt 22:42); in answer to those scandalised when he declared the sins of a paralytic man forgiven, he said, Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk? (Mark 2:9); and in one of the many debates about his use of the Sabbath, he challenged his critics to say whether it was lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? (Luke 6:9). Indeed, the most fruitful learning experiences are invariably collaborative: iron sharpens iron. the food, What does Jesus do in response to the large crowds? He taught the twelve, and he taught the crowds. Indeed, professional research scholars may not always be the best equipped to train fishers of men. For it is in teaching his disciples, a small group he individually selected for training and to whom he devoted immense time and energy, that we may discern the earliest model of what we might term Christian theological education. [25] R. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997), 27. He looked for a place to sit down and begin teaching them. Jesus teaching, however, is not always of this sort but is often informal, occasional, dialogical in nature. Learning occurred as they responded to Jesus needs, modelled themselves on his way of life, assisted in his public teaching and ministry to the crowds and received private tuition as a group.14. Almost anything could become grist to Jesus mill.37 Its relevance was immediately apparent to those who listened because far from being mere classroom theory it emerged directly out of the concerns of life and human relationships. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. The one group Jesus most condemned was the Pharisees, and he did so particularly in terms of a single dominant accusation: hypocrisy. and teaching them (Matt 28:1920). In fact, sitting down for us is either a neutral thing, eg., sitting at a desk in a classroom because it is expected and class is about to begin, or negative, eg., someone we know is a 'couch potato' or as we say, 'so and so is sitting down on the job'. Students must see as well as hear if transformation, as opposed to mere cognitive input and the creation of an intellectual meritocracy, is to take place.30 Men and women will not be effectively fished and discipled, unless those engaged in the task embody something of the reality which they are seeking to communicate, as Jesus did. Moreover, it sets him apart from the Jewish rabbis of his day who trained disciples not to become fishers of men but to learn and transmit their teaching of the Law.7 Accordingly, over the next few years he trained them to catch men (Luke 5:10) and finally commissioned them at the moment of his own departure: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them . Its primary audience is theological students, pastors and scholars. The history of Christian reflection on the teachings and nature of Jesus is examined in the article Christology. [2] H. Blocher, Jsus Educateur, in Ichthus 128 (1985): 3, referring to Ant. The purpose for which he calls the disciplesfishing for menshapes the methods he uses to train them as well as the communal context in which the training takes place while Jesus himself embodies all that he seeks to foster in his followers. Jesus Knew and Used His Father's Laws of Physics! 11, Paul and the Historical Jesus, 95112, and David Wenham, Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity, Summoned from the Margin: Homecoming of an African. The seating of guests in chairs, implied in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper painting, were not used for this most solemn occasion. . (2 Tim 3:1011). They were present when he healed the sick, raised the dead, and liberated the demonized. It was about the . [11] J. Kapolyo, Matthew, in Africa Bible Commentary (ed. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. [3] D. Macleod, The Christology of Wolfhart Pannenberg, Them 25:2 (2000): 41. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. This is not to minimise the value of the academic dimension of programmes of theological education, including advanced postgraduate and postdoctoral theological study and research. They learned to fish not only by watching the great fisherman at his work but also by fishing themselves: Adults learn far better when they see and do ministry.10 And when they returned, they reported and reflected with Jesus on what took place (Luke 10:1724). Moreover, through such trips Jesus fostered the skills and gifts they would need to fulfil that commission. Moreover, Jesus explicitly pointed to his own values and priorities as the focus of that specific discipleship which he aimed to instil. The Gospels refer to the disciples apparently frequent disputes about relative positions of status and power, even during the last supper (Mark 9:3337; 10:3545; Luke 22:2430). But every other time Jesus taught, He used what some might call an "expository method." Jesus taught through books of the Bible. to teach them Matthew 14:19 . The list could go on, but the point is that Jesus sought constantly to engage the minds of his hearers. Indeed, we might warily ponder the implications of Linda Cannells challenging observation: Jesus chose not to found a school (even though schools existed in the ancient world) or to establish a structured curriculum leading to a degree. The Short answer is no. He was the teacher par excellence.3. Although he was not the only person to use parables in first-century Palestine, the evidence suggests that he used them much more than anybody before him. The crowds followed him because of his ability to heal their diseases, pains and birth defects. The Jewish historian Josephus used the word taksis when he recorded the orderly way in which the Roman army erected their camps indicating their camps were orderly, organized, and well-planned. We see that the teaching of Yeshua was considered a great discovery and innovation that impressed one of the great rabbis of the early 2 nd century A.D. and we see the legacy that Yeshua left as a Rabbi in the land of Israel. With him the learned atmosphere of the school . Hagner continues, It is estimated that 80 percent of Jesus sayings are in the form of parallelismus membrorum (Riesner), often of the antithetical variety. See also pp. Unquestionably there is a place in the church for the scholar and researcher,62 and the university ethos and structure may in some respects provide a suitable setting for such a vocation. Expectations shape experiences. Again, the act was arresting because it repudiated accepted cultural norms where children were held in little regard and listening to them was a waste of time.23 Examples could be multiplied: Jesus demonstrated dependence on God through his prayer life and evident disregard for material security (Luke 9:58), confidence in and submission to Gods Word by constantly referring to Scripture (e.g., Matt 4:111), compassion by ministering to crowds and individuals (Matt 9:36), obedient faith as he walked steadily to Jerusalem (Mark 10:32), and the extravagance of Gods grace in the welcome accorded to the outcasts and despised of society (Matt 9:1013).