The Life of Jesus Christ- 3 Points From Jesus’ Teachings
What were Jesus’ teachings? Ron Hughes shares 3 points from Jesus’ teachings as he explores an aspect of the life of Jesus Christ. He demonstrates that Jesus’ life and Jesus’ teachings are culturally revolutionary, spiritually unsettling and personally challenging.
Jesus’ Teachings Are Culturally Revolutionary
The ideas that Jesus put forward, particularly in the sermon on the mount, will change any culture that is open to them. The idea that we should love our neighbours—to put them first and act in their best interest—is revolutionary.
Naturally, we have the tendency to take advantage of those closest to us because we’re sure that they’ll understand us, and we often feel that they owe us in one way or another. Jesus indicates that rather than exploiting these relationships, we should use them as opportunities to serve.
Love Our Enemies
This is unusual enough, but the most culturally revolutionary idea Jesus expressed was that we should love our enemies. It’s one thing to love our neighbours; it’s another thing entirely to love our enemies.
No human culture I’ve heard of espouses love toward such people. In fact, most cultures esteem hatred for enemies. If a culture truly begins to follow Jesus’ teachings it will be influenced in a significant way.
Jesus’ Teachings are Spiritually Unsettling
It is fair to say that in Jesus’ day, the Jewish religious system was the closest to achieving a successful attempt at pleasing God. At least it had God’s blueprint for doing so. Yet we know that it fell far short—and even more so the polytheistic Roman religion. The idea that people must put God absolutely first is unsettling.
We can see from the gospel accounts that the leaders of the Jewish religious community were prone to acting in self-serving ways. His insisting that they must put God first was one of the reasons they hated Jesus and wanted to get rid of Him.
The idea of loving God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength was just too much. We all have other things we love: relationships, money, things, influence, comfort, and pleasure. Jesus taught that the pursuit of these must always be secondary to the pursuit of God.
Jesus’ Teachings are Personally Challenging
The teachings of Jesus confront each one of us because His words did not just set the standard for others, but for us as well. It is easy to embrace Jesus’ teaching to the degree that they affect the behaviour of others, but if we are going to hold others to them we, ourselves, must live them first.
Followers of Jesus are called to put their Master’s teachings into action. It is not enough for me to know His teachings so I can sit in judgment of others and say that they don’t love their neighbours as they should, or that they don’t love their enemies as they should, or that they don’t love God as they should.
I have to judge myself by Jesus’ standards. So today I am personally challenged to be the kind of person God calls me to be through the teachings of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you find Jesus’ teachings unsettling? Contact us at HopeStreamRadio, or comment below.
Ron Hughes
Ron Hughes is the former President of FBH International He developed his interest in technology and mass communications during his highschool years in Peterborough, Ontario.
He received a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University where he graduated as the program’s “outstanding graduate.” He gained experience working in both commercial and cultural radio stations in Southern Ontario as well as engaging in freelance production.
In 1983, he and his wife, Debbie, moved to Ecuador where they served as missionaries for 10 years. There, Ron produced radio specials and numerous music albums as well as several videos. Some of these videos were the first ever produced in Ecuador’s major indigenous languages. In 1993, the Hughes family returned to Canada at the invitation of FBH International (then Family Bible Hour) and oversaw the ministry for many years. Ron retired in 2021.
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