The Person of Jesus Christ
Jesus as a teacher of wisdom
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Gospel in Brief
• The significance of Jesus’ life is in his moral teaching.
• Moral commandments:
- Do not be angry – be at peace with all
- Do not delight in sexual fulfilment
- Do not swear anything to anyone
- Do not judge
- Do not make distinction among people based on nationality; love strangers
like they are of your own kind.
Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
• Redemption and the afterlife promised by God are not the truth and
authority of Christianity.
• Instead, living life as honestly as possible is the truth.
• Jesus’ authority is derived from him as a teacher of wisdom. He affirmed
authentic living.
• An idea has value only if it can be lived, experienced and practiced. Jesus
embodied the moral and spiritual and so was the ‘living word’.
Jesus’ Moral Teaching
• Jesus uses parables, short sayings, actions, examples and healings to
express moral message. He rarely uses long discourse but the Sermon on
the Mount is a famous example of Jesus talking at length about what it is
to be good.
• Scholars debate the extent to which Jesus was a reformer or revolutionary
in light of the practice of the Torah (Jewish teaching, Old Testament).
, •
Jesus as the New Moses
• “ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have
17
not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly I tell you, until
18
heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke
of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is
accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of
19
these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in
the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-19
Forgiveness and Repentance
• Metanoia – Greek for ‘repentance’ or a radical change of mind-set and/
heart.
• Requires spiritual and psychological effort.
• At the heart of Jesus’ teaching on the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
• Examples include Zacchaeus (tax collector) and the Parable of the Lost
Son.
• Forgiveness brings about mental and material freedom.
• Seen in Lord’s Prayer.
Motive and Inner Purity
• Morality is about developing your character. You must analyse your motive.
• Sermon on the Mount extract, Matthew 5:17-48:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have
17
not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly I tell you, until heaven
18
and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen,
will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and
19
teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but
Jesus as a teacher of wisdom
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Gospel in Brief
• The significance of Jesus’ life is in his moral teaching.
• Moral commandments:
- Do not be angry – be at peace with all
- Do not delight in sexual fulfilment
- Do not swear anything to anyone
- Do not judge
- Do not make distinction among people based on nationality; love strangers
like they are of your own kind.
Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
• Redemption and the afterlife promised by God are not the truth and
authority of Christianity.
• Instead, living life as honestly as possible is the truth.
• Jesus’ authority is derived from him as a teacher of wisdom. He affirmed
authentic living.
• An idea has value only if it can be lived, experienced and practiced. Jesus
embodied the moral and spiritual and so was the ‘living word’.
Jesus’ Moral Teaching
• Jesus uses parables, short sayings, actions, examples and healings to
express moral message. He rarely uses long discourse but the Sermon on
the Mount is a famous example of Jesus talking at length about what it is
to be good.
• Scholars debate the extent to which Jesus was a reformer or revolutionary
in light of the practice of the Torah (Jewish teaching, Old Testament).
, •
Jesus as the New Moses
• “ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have
17
not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly I tell you, until
18
heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke
of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is
accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of
19
these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in
the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-19
Forgiveness and Repentance
• Metanoia – Greek for ‘repentance’ or a radical change of mind-set and/
heart.
• Requires spiritual and psychological effort.
• At the heart of Jesus’ teaching on the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
• Examples include Zacchaeus (tax collector) and the Parable of the Lost
Son.
• Forgiveness brings about mental and material freedom.
• Seen in Lord’s Prayer.
Motive and Inner Purity
• Morality is about developing your character. You must analyse your motive.
• Sermon on the Mount extract, Matthew 5:17-48:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have
17
not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly I tell you, until heaven
18
and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen,
will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and
19
teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but
