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pictures have hung in men’s minds since he uttered them.” 165 Sometimes his disciples failed to

grasp what Jesus preached, yet “that was their fault, not his.” 166 When Jesus warned against “the

yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees,” his disciples did not understand and said to each other,

“It is because we have brought no bread” (Matt. 16:7). In addition, after rebuking their

insensibility, Jesus restated the previous admonition, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and

Sadducees!” (16:11).

Then, they understood that Jesus was warning not of “the yeast of bread, but of the

teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (16:12). On this occasion, the disciples did not pay

attention to Jesus’ utterance concerning the religious leaders. Thus, they thought Jesus spoke

about ordinary bread. It was not the problem of Jesus’ communication skills but that of

sensitivity and attention of his disciples. 167 E.P. Boys-Smith adds, “His thoughts were always

concrete, not abstract; His intellectual processes were intuitive, not argumentative.” 168 Jesus

displayed his imaginative capacity in his use of language. 169 This imaginative capacity, however,

was not a conscious attempt to utilize effective methods of expression; rather it was a natural

165 Handy, Jesus the Preacher, 57.

166
Zuck, Teaching as Jesus, 72.
167
For more examples, see Mark 6:52, 9:32, Luke 9:45, 18:34.
168
E.P. Boys-Smith, “Mental Characteristics,” in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, ed.
James Hastings (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1973), 2:164. ???? See also Hunter, A Pattern
for Life, 21. He describes well about Jesus’ concrete expressions, saying, “When we should say,
‘Charity should never be obtrusive,’ he says, ‘When you give alms, sound no a trumpet before
you.’ If we had to express the thought in Matt.7:6, we should probably say, ‘Exercise reserve in
your communication of religious truth.’ Jesus says, ‘give not that which is holy to dogs.’”

169 For a helpful discussion on the Jesus’ creative use of words, see Matt Friedeman, The
Master Plan of Teaching (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1990), 161-180.