As Was His Custom: Teaching

The Importance of Knowing Where Yeshua (Jesus) Came From

            On hundreds of Sundays, I padded down the blue-carpeted basement steps to our newly constructed Sunday School rooms. I followed as other children walked into their respective classrooms. I looked forward to Sundays, as I enjoyed learning about Jesus, but I especially loved being taught by Doug Livgren. Now, looking back, it's because his love and passion for Jesus superseded just "getting through the Sunday School curriculum." My class would enter, girls giggling and boys shoving to get to seats, and Doug would walk in and command attention from us. What I remember most was having light bulb moments through his teaching, and honestly when I taught third-grade boys’ Sunday School in college, I thought back often and used Doug's methods.

            Teaching is one of the many customs/habits of Jesus. Immediately following His 40 days in the wilderness (Luke 4), He begins traveling, preaching, and teaching in synagogues throughout the countryside. He even taught (albeit briefly) in His hometown of Nazareth. (Click here for a blog post on this topic!) However, Jesus' teaching slightly differed from what we're used to in our Western context. Jesus, more than likely, was educated in rabbinic tradition (see here for more info).

Jesus' Custom of Teaching: Who He Taught:       

"Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again, crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them." Mark 10:1

There's a particular teaching moment that not many of us grab onto. It's the quintessential moment at Mary and Martha's when the sisters get into a bit of snafu with each other. (Here's a blog post, "Don't Be a Martha?" on this teaching moment!) As a rabbi, Jesus gathered twelve male disciples (more than likely aged 13-25) and wanted women to sit at His feet as disciples. He taught large crowds (Matt. 7:28; 23:1, Mark 10:1, Luke 14:24-26), small groups (Mark 9:30-35), and groups of three or less (Mark 9:2-13). He doesn't seem to show favoritism (Mark 7:24-30, John 4), and He knows when the crowd has stopped listening and only wants a payout or miracle (Luke 11:29, 14:25).

Underneath the Translation: How Yeshua Taught:

We are used to teachers standing when teaching, but in biblical times, rabbis would sit to teach (Matt. 26:55; Luke 4:20) and their students/disciples would sit at their feet (remember Luke 10:39?). There was a second-century rabbi that was recorded to have said, “Let your house be a meeting place for the rabbis, and cover yourself in the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily.” Since the roads at this time were usually covered in fine dust, as a rabbi walked, this dust would kick up and cover everything, including the disciples who followed behind their rabbi. A rabbi usually taught his disciples wherever he could: in a home, on the road while travelling, while camping out on the road, in a field, or in natural auditoriums (like in a boat on a lake Luke 5:1-3; Mark 4:1; Matt. 13:1-3). This form on “teaching on the go” is called halachah.

Another form of rabbinical teaching is called, “haggadah” which means “to draw out, to narrate or to tell.” When Jesus implemented haggadah, He used parables, kal v/homer (light and heavy: Luke 12:27-28; 18:1-8), fencing the Torah (to help others observe God's laws by teaching to stop before they get to the line of breaking one: Matt. 5:21), and alluding to the Scriptures (remez). For example, the parable of the Good Samaritan was probably alluding to the scene in 2 Chronicles 28:8-15. He wanted His learners to connect the dots. He also used His surroundings to bring the narrative to life (Matt. 5-7, 18:2-6). If you have a minute, check out the other methods of haggadah Jesus also used in His teaching. I mean, His teaching style was simple, yet soooo complex. (I leave this lengthly list here to just show you the BREADTH of Jesus’ teaching… I mean- crazy, right?)

Methodologies of logic

• Similes (Matt. 7;24,26)

• Metaphors (Matt 13:19-22)

• Hypocatastates (comparison of two unlike things in naming; Luke 113:32)

• Metonymies (word or phrase is substituted for another word/phrase associated with it; Matt. 10:34,11:21,23)

• Synecdoche (like metonymies but that this substitutes a part for a whole or vice versa; Luke 23:29)

• Hyperboles (exaggerations to make a point Matt. 5:29-30)

• Personification (Matt. 6:3, 6:34, 11:2)

• Apostrophes (addresses an object as if it were a person; Matt. 11:21, 23; Luke 10:13)

• Euphemisms (substitution of an inoffensive expression with a bold one; Matt. 9:24; John 11:11)

• Ironies (Mark 2:17; Mark 7:9)

• Paradoxes (Matt. 5:2-5; 19:29; Matt. 23:11)

• Puns (Luke 21:11; Jn. 3:3)

• Humor (Matt. 6:2; 7:3; 19:24)

• Enigmas (Matt. 8:22; 10:34)

• Aphorisms (Matt. 5:13-14; 6:34; Luke. 12:34),

• Repetitions (like in the Beatitudes, "Blessed… I tell you" in Matt. 18:3, 10, 18-19, 22; 26:21, 29, 34)

• A fortiori or with greater reason and more force to draw a conclusion (Matt. 6:26; 10:29-30),

• Reductio ad absurdium or reduction to absurdity; refuting by showing contradictions or absurd consequences (Matt. 5:46-47; 12:24-26),

• Excluded middle (Matt. 12:30; 21:25-27),

• Noncontradiction (Luke 6:39)

• Analogies (Matt. 12:40),

• Contrasts (Matt. 23:23-24),

• Hebrew forms of poetry (Matt. 10:24, 26)[1]

• Paradoxes (Matt. 5:2-5)

But what Jesus was a master of, in His teaching, was bridging what He was teaching TO HIS AUDIENCE. This is something we can immediately take away from His example.

How Can We Follow Jesus in This Way?

           Teaching was never in “my plan.” I dreamed of being an author, but God had other plans for me. I remember the first time I taught the Bible to a dorm full of junior high girls. As we were rolling out our sleeping bags, one of the moms grabbed me and asked, “Meg, would you lead us in a devotion tonight?” I had no idea what I was doing, but after reading through a passage out of my Bible to over 50 wide-eyed girls, my heart was softened towards teaching. Teaching those girls IMPACTED and DEVASTATED me all simultaneously. Today, I am honored to teach my kids, our online community at the Behold Collective, any friends or family who will listen to my seminarian ramblings and those I serve alongside at church. Essentially, teaching is discipleship. A disciple is a student of someone or something. So, if you've ever taught or shared about Jesus, the Bible, or the God Story, you've discipled another person. But please, don't be intimidated by the word "teach" or "discipleship." Because God may have a different version of teaching in your head than you've thought of.

Where to Start

So, how can you practice discipleship or teach about Jesus? It's simple, really.

• Start with yourself:

  • Read and study God's Word daily (click for our blog post on Jesus’ habit of Reading Scripture and Studying Scripture)

  • Learn how to dissect a passage of Scripture

    • Using the Swedish Study Method

    • Using a hermeneutical method like The Behold Method

• Start small. Share something you've learned about Jesus recently with your mom, siblings, kids, or best friends.

• Find those who listen. A person of peace, in a sense, who wants to hear about what you're learning (for a full definition, click for the Share & Go resource).

• Decide to lead a small group of 3 or less women.

  • Take them through the Swedish Study Method or the So What, Now What? Study guide

  • Find a Bible-focused study that teaches you the Word- remember, the Word is Jesus!)

When You're Ready to Teach

• Practice the Go & Share model found in Luke 10 (download here!)

• Wait for God to provide you with opportunities

  • Teach a Bible class at your church

  • Begin teaching your family weekly devotions

  • Apply to teach the Bible at a local high school or elementary

  • Women's retreats

  • Bible Workshops

  • Use your social media as a teaching conduit

  I learned from Luke 10 that we must share the Kingdom with humility, reliance on God, and flexibility. There's no room for boasting or shrinking back. Too often, we're either terrified to share the Good News OR try to stick to a script or have elaborate words or messages to share on the Gospel. But in Luke 10, they're just humbly preparing the Way for Jesus to come after them. In our case, we need to leave room for the Holy Spirit to come into their lives.

Women often tell me, "But I'm too shy to teach," or "I don't feel equipped." What these women have immediately shown me is their humility. And that's the first step in teaching. God equips those He's called to a task, but the first step is never His. We must make the first step- in obedience. A quote from The Christian Women Leadership Podcast says, "Leading others, and especially teaching them, requires a spirit of humility."

[1] Zuck, Teaching as Jesus Taught, 183-234.