What Did Jesus Preach?
———————————————————————————————————
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
———————————————————————————————————
To listen to discussions about Jesus in public venues, one would have a very skewed perception of who he was. The most common statement that I hear in public discourse is: “Jesus is Love”. While that is not a false statement, as it is used, is VERY misleading. This statement has to be understood by the person using it and the context it is being used. Most often, it is spoken in the context of a topic being discussed that is widely believed to be a sinful lifestyle or behavior. And to throw out the statement that “Jesus is Love” is intended to convince the masses that Jesus doesn’t care about the sinful lifestyles or behaviors of others. He only cares about “Love”. The other primary issue is that the person making this claim has NO idea about what Jesus’ meaning of love is. But that is a topic for another day.
Our passage today gives us some very important clues to who Jesus is as a teacher. It is worth our time and effort to understand who Jesus really is.
1. Jesus Began to Preach
Words mean things. For the most part, writers are very careful to choose just the right word to convey the delicate nuance of what they are trying to convey. The Bible is no different. There are many ways that the Bible could have described what Jesus did in his ministry. It could have said that ‘Jesus began to encourage’. Or ‘Jesus began to uplift’. Or ‘Jesus began to spread love’. Instead, it says that ‘Jesus began to preach’. The word ‘Preaching’ is a unique word. It is usually isolated to religious teachings. It also conveys a sense of persuasion – trying to get the listener to react in a prescribed manner. In every recorded sermon, lesson or teaching of Jesus, he tried to get people to leave the life that they had and change to be able to follow him.
2. Jesus Preached Repentance
So what did Jesus preach? He preached Repentance! His primary message was NOT his “love” for us. His primary message was not “tolerance”. His primary message was not “acceptance”. Instead, as our passage today clearly states, Jesus preached Repentance!
So what is the inference that we must conclude from this truth? To get that, we must understand what “Repentance means”. The best definition that I have hears is that Repentance is a change of heart which will lead to a change of life. Change! Ok…change from what to what?
———————————————————————————————————
Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
———————————————————————————————————
Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
———————————————————————————————————
Repentance is a change of mind that will lead to a change of life from a state of sin or wickedness to going in the opposite direction…towards God! Therefore, if Jesus preached repentance, he, by necessity, preached about sin. And since he was preaching repentance, we know that Jesus did not endorse ignoring sin, or excusing sin, or acting like it was no big deal. To Jesus, sin is a HUGE deal. It was the sole reason that he had to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus preached repentance because he wanted us to cease from sin and to follow him!
———————————————————————————————————
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
———————————————————————————————————
3. Jesus Preached about the Kingdom
The other main topic that Jesus preached about, from this passage is the Kingdom. It is not good enough for us just to repent. We must also become citizens of his great Kingdom, of which he is King, Ruler, and Master! We know that the Kingdom that Jesus established is his church (Matt 16:18-19). Many religions want to separate the King from the Kingdom. Meaning, that you can believe in Jesus (the King) and not necessarily have any thing to do with his church (his kingdom). Jesus did not see it that way. Once one repents, Jesus expects them to become citizens of his Kingdom, of which he has total authority.
Examine the ministry of Jesus in the four accounts of his Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). You will not find a passive, feel-good, let’s-all-get-along message coming out of his mouth. What you will find is that Jesus hated sin and wanted to save as many people from the curse of sin as possible. Certainly Jesus represents Love. So much so that he made the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate his love for us. But Jesus dedicated his life to preaching repentance and His Kingdom!
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
Very well said, my friend! (Mike Tucker0
ReplyDelete