View of Teaching of Jesus from Different Perspectives - Literature review Example

Jesus “Reign of God The View of Teaching of Jesus from Different Perspectives Jesus “Reign of God”: The View of Teaching of Jesus from Different Perspectives Introduction The aim of this paper is critically to evaluate the discussions regarding Gods reign presented through Jesus as the reign is central to the Jesus ministry and self-identity, Jesus attitude towards the countable or uncountable dimensions, his teachings and methods related to them, and to explain the three positions on the eschatology. There are three contemporary positions of the eschatology, called millennialism, the Historic Premillennialism, Post-Millennialism and the Amillennialism. According to the “Historic Premillennialism”, the First Advent Christ’s purpose was to die for the sake of humanity’s sins and not to let the kingdom of the Jews get established. Historic Premillennialism suggests that the Christ shall return before the millennium. According to this system the church was foreseen in the prophecy of Old Testament and that the church will have to go through the tribulation. Moreover, it suggests that two resurrections will occur such as, the righteous before the millennium and the unrighteous after the millennium. The “Amillennialism” means the rejection of the theory which says “the Jesus will have a physical reign on the earth, for about a thousand years long." It also suggests that the New Testament church shall appear as the Israel of God. This system has the view that the Satan was bound during the time of the Jesus’ earthly ministry; God’s Kingdom is spiritual in character, which is not political or physical. The first-resurrection and the millennium describe the current reign of the deceased believer’s souls and Christ to be in heaven. It also explains that the Christ shall return and resurrect all the people at one time, and a new earth and the new heaven will be established forever. The “Postmillennialism” agrees with the Amillennialism that the New Testament church is the Israel of God, and the God’s kingdom is a present reality. It agrees with all the points of Amillennialism, except for one point which it opposes, is that the Christianity’s period of virtual triumph will be brought by the Holy Spirit before Christ. Jesus as the Reign of God “The Reign of God” is a symbol derived from the political life. It can be said that it is a relational symbol as it expresses the relation between God and humans. The Reign of God is the foundation of Jesus’ mission. Thus, uniting with the Jesus means unity to the reality of God’s Reign. The reign of God is the goal of life of the believers of Jesus. From God’s point of view, the Reign of God is himself a God who is presented to human beings after revealing or it can be said that, it is a situation in which human beings can feel the presence of God and allows him to reign in their lives. Methods of Jesus’ Teachings Even today, in order to solve the issues and conflicts related to the teaching methods, it would be appropriate to follow the methods practiced by Jesus. The kind of teachings practiced by Jesus fully complies with the moral instructions and can be regarded as a complete source of ethical conduct. Jesus used homilies in his teachings. He used proverbs, scriptures, riddles, allegories and stories to convey his perception to the audiences. He also used many symbolic words from the Jewish, meshalim tradition. However, the short moral stories he used were not similar type of mashal found in the Jewish Bible. The Sermons are the shortened or précis, several sessions of teachings. It is important to state that Jesus had never made appointments to teach. It has been narrated that the Jesus taught people from morning till evening without taking a break and his audience composed of ordinary folk and his loyal followers. Peasantry was specifically focused in his teachings rather than the religious authorities. Jesus would gather audiences and his teaching comprised of stories from practical life, instructions, promises and warnings that depicted the main purpose of life. Once, he stated that: “And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28 ESV / 2). The main objective was to design a course outline that focused on lessons of life that could be beneficial to his followers and people in the long run. Jesus used incidental occurrences and events that were arranged for some random purposes. In order to make his teachings a practical experience, he gave assignments to the followers and asked them to act on the directions to understand its significance in reality. These assignments given by Jesus to his followers were essential it showed how well his teachings were practiced in the true sense. His teachings demanded actions of the followers and it tested their faith on the sermons. After every sermon, Jesus would send the disciples act which would be in accordance to the commandments and then they were notified of their part (Luke 9:1–6, 10). Jesus used to practice the teachings himself to give his followers and disciples a good idea to carry out and follow the commandments and teachings. He talked about praying, and would often withdraw the sermon to pray himself (Luke 5:16). Jesus even taught to love the sinners, and he also practiced this idea himself as narrated that he had dinner with the sinners (Matthew 9:10-12). Jesus used to listen to the people, carefully focusing on their sayings and then he would connect his teachings and lessons to their perceptions in order gain an insight. His teaching outline includes rebukes, commands and challenges. He helped correcting a wrong belief and behavior of the people through his teachings. Tests taken by Jesus gave people the opportunities to act upon the knowledge. They realized the abilities they had and demonstrated their character. Jesus’ teachings were entirely oral, means they were not written in black and white form. In one of the instances form Gospels, Jesus can be seen writing something but other than that his teachings were not in a written format his time but after his death they appear to us as they were written by others, narrating his character. There was a method used by Jesus, who was quite intriguing. He used to shock the followers or the audience by using some attention seeking examples, exaggerations and by giving some statements that were gained listeners’ attention. He used to exaggerate the fact and truth in an attempt clearly to define his point. Jesus also used poetic expressions in his sayings, and he made his sayings sound catchy to the listeners as he used to play with the words. This way the sayings became memorable and easier for his listeners. An example of this method is the verse, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” (Luke 6:37-38a, ESV) While teaching, Jesus used to ask many questions to his listeners rather than concluding himself he preferred questioning the audience about his teaching topic. This is a powerful teaching method which makes the unbelievers reach a points where he would critically think over the questions and the topic. This part of teaching leads the audience to demand answers to the underlying issues raised. Moreover, Jesus often used visual illustrations or objects to make a good understanding of the audience by giving some practical examples. It is found through the readings of the book that once he washed disciple’s feet to teach servant leadership to the audience (John 13:3–17). He prescribed the attributes of being selfless and demonstrated by giving an example of a widow who contributed two coins for the temple (Mark 12:41–44). There was repetition in his teachings as he repeated some major themes in his teachings thoroughly. This frequent repetition helped Jesus’ followers to remember his teachings with fine understanding. For example, in his teachings, Jesus used to speak about his death and resurrection repeatedly (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34). Jesus’ Code of Life There are many well-known narrations about the Jesus’ code of life. One of them is when Jesus was invited by two sisters Martha and Mary, to their home over a meal. Martha got busy in the kitchen preparing a meal while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet as he was teaching the Gospel. Jesus suggested that what Mary was doing at the moment was the right thing to do as he never cared about a fancy meal. He did not neglect the need of feeding people that Martha was worried over, but he proposed to live a simple lifestyle through his practices and teachings. Jesus made a point of living by showing people the way of living he wanted all to live. He believed that everybody had to pray and obey the commandments. Even though, he was perfect but still he followed laws of the gospel. Thus, he believed in equality and fairness for all. Jesus was granted the powers of miracles by God. He used miracles to demonstrate the truth that he was sent by God and he was the true reign of God. His miracles would let him heal lepers and other people which were neglected or avoided by others. He was able to heal the blinds, the rich and the poor equally. Another story that describes his kindness and generosity are of a blind man who was a beggar and was not considered as worthy of anything by others. He was communicated respectfully by Jesus and was asked if he needed any help. He demanded his eyesight to return and thus he was healed by Jesus. This was a good example for people not to overlook or underestimate anyone as a person is made by his own faith. He said, “For behold, and are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind (Mosiah 4)." He emphasized the importance of children through his actions. Once a group of children came to meet the Savior at the end of the day, but the apostles tried to send them away as they thought that Jesus was tired. Jesus called over the children and spent time with them, talking and blessing them. This shows that the children matters, and they should be given time and attention. The kind of responsibility he wanted to awaken in us was not only for the disciples in a social circle, not for just rich or poor, but for everyone in society. This way Jesus gave back the dignity and importance to the neglected people in the society, through his teachings and practices. In the last days of his life, Jesus showed a great example of charity by taking upon the sins of others in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden of Eden. He was perfect himself, but he suffered for others without making any distinctions of worthy and non-worthy. Jesus’ life teaches us that if everyone on this earth starts helping and giving each other selflessly, this world will become more benefiting to all and there would be no envy, pride, hatred, iniquity or violence. Through his parables, he made it clear that anybody refusing to help or serve others cannot expect others to help him. There have been arguments on whether to show off the good deeds people does or not to show them? This issue also has a key solution to know, by seeing some verses related to this topic such as, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16)”. On the other hand, there are verses supporting the idea of showing one’s good works to the world, such as, "therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.... However, they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments (Matthew 23:3, 5)." It can be observed from the verses that Jesus emphasized to perform good works and motivate others also to do good by showing them an example. However, on the other hand, Jesus believed in simplicity and piousness. He did not encourage the idea of helping someone by showing oneself superior to the world for giving or helping someone.Jesus explained people about those who help and serve others for the sake of selfishness. Their purpose of serving others is to show others that how generous they are. The reasons containing wishes to be noticed and admired by others are not appreciated. The good works should be shown merely to set good examples. Jesus’ Eschatology Eschatology can be defined as ‘The Science of last things, the science that Jesus taught his followers. Eschatology is not merely another mystery or religion; it excludes the mystic elements from the teachings. It depends upon the common sense and the reasoning with the right thinking and actions. It takes will to not commit sins or make mistakes. The eschatological dimensions of Jesus as the Reign of God means the re-gathering of the people to teach as it was promised and restoring people believe on God completely. It has caused the defeat of the hostile powers who wished to keep away people from acknowledging the fullness of God’s blessings. Conclusion Jesus Christ is a perfect role model to follow. Teachers need to be communicative with their students and make them understand the truths clearly with facts. Jesus has set examples of a good guide, and this is applicable for every individual living in this world. His attitude, behavior, ideas and actions present him as “the Reign of God." All the methods used and even introduced by Jesus are of extreme importance for teaching purpose for believers and disbelievers. For disbeliever, to make him rethink and analyze his understandings and perceptions and for the believers to re-correct, strengthen and modify their behaviors, beliefs and knowledge according to the teachings. Bibliography Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. U.K: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008. Bockmuehl, Markus. The Cambridge Companion to Jesus. U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Catchpole, David R., David G. Horrell, and C. Christopher, Mark Tuckett. Christology, Controversy, and Community: New Testament Essays in Honour of David R. Catchpole. U.S.A: BRILL, 2000. Cottingham, John. The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy and Human Value. U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was. U.S.A: Liturgical Press, 2012. Manson, Thomas, Walter. The Teaching of Jesus: Studies of Its Form and Content. U.K: CUP Archive, 1955. Rausch, Thomas P. Who is Jesus?: An Introduction to Christology. U.S.A: Liturgical Press, 2003. Stein, Robert H. The Method and Message of Jesus Teachings. U.S.A: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994. Vandegriff, Steve, and Lee Vukich. Timeless Youth Ministry: A Handbook for Successfully Reaching Todays Youth. U.S.A: Moody Publishers, 2008. West, Thomas H. Jesus and the Quest for Meaning: Entering Theology. U.S.A: Fortress Press, 2001. Yieh, John, Yueh-Han. One Teacher: Jesus Teaching Role in Matthews Gospel Report. Walter de Gruyter, 2004. Read More