Page 145 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

“The common people were astonished. He was not a scribe. He had no religious credentials. Yet he
spoke like a king. His sayings were a new Sinai. The scribes quoted authorities; he spoke with authority.
They loved tradition, and no rabbi won a hearing unless he could prove that his word was based on past
wisdom; so the scribes drew stale water from closed cisterns. But the words of Jesus were like a spring,
clear, fresh, with power to slake the soul’s thirst.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, New Testament Articles,
Matthew and Mark, page 335)

3. Jesus Was a Teacher Who Taught with Compassion
Legalism and living by the letter of the Jewish law were powerfully present during the ministry of Jesus.
Compassion took the second place to the law. However, this was not the strategy of Jesus. His ministry
was one of compassion.

Mark 3:1-6 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was
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there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he
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would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of
everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to
kill?” But they remained silent.
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the
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man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the
Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Jesus did not separate his compassion from his ministry or his teaching.

Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were
like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
4. Jesus Was a Teacher Who Could Teach Scholars
The parables of Jesus are strong examples of how Jesus could teach to the young, simple, and
uneducated. His ability to teach was recognized by the highly educated teachers of the first century.
Luke 5:17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They
had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was
with Jesus to heal the sick.

5. Jesus was a Teacher Who Taught by Placing People First

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Luke 13: 10-17 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there
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who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at
all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your
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infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
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14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There
are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey
from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of
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Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from
what bound her?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the
wonderful things he was doing.

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