John 12:49

The words spoken by Jesus were carefully chosen. What He said, where He said His teachings and how He said them were all orchestrated by God. The teachings delivered on the mount, in the synagogues, on the boat, in Jerusalem or outside Jerusalem were all tailor-made for the hearers. Jesus was not taken by surprise when He saw a crowd gathering and wondered “Well, what am I going to teach to these folks today?” At times Jesus would say that it was not yet His time to go to Judea or Jerusalem (John 7:1-19) because He had an agenda prepared by God to accomplish His mission.  He wanted the people to know that His message was from God above.

“But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” John 12:48-50 NLT

“The people^[ were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked.So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.” John 7:15-18

John the Baptist testified:

^“He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them!  Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true. For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.” John 3:34

God Himself testified

“This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him” Mark 9:7

Jesus said that if we love Him we’ll keep His commands but He also said : “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” Luke 6:45

It is therefore essential to live the talk.

Not only was Jesus mandated on what to say but He was also indicated precisely on how to say these teachings. For instance, the way Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in(Luke 11:37-54, Mat. 23, Mat 15:12) was not out of uncontrolled anger or impulse. The way Jesus acted with them was the very expression of how God felt. The Pharisees were offended because of what Jesus said and started to plot on how to kill Him.

These teachings were long prepared in God’s counsels and revealed through Jesus. God Himself came and spoke through His Son (Hebrews 1). When the prophets delivered to Israel God’s message, they did so with the best of their abilities but still imperfectly. This is not the same with the Son as He communicated exactly what God intended to say.

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” Hebrews 1

This is why we need to pay careful attention to what the Son said since God judged severely those who disobeyed the law of Moses.

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? ” Heb. 2:1

It is no wonder that the guards said “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” John 7:46

How can you not be stunned when you hear a man claim that He is the Vine and that his disciples are the branches and if someone does not remain in Him and in His Words, he will perish. He said that apart from Him we cannot do anything, that He is the Way to the Father, the only Truth and the Life. He said He is the bread of life. To the immoral woman and the paralytic man He said ‘Your sins are forgiven’. Jesus’ words were Spirit and life(John 6:63) but many did not understand or refuse His teachings because their heart were evil.

I have read the epistles of Paul,John, Peter and James and learned much about the church and was enlightened about several doctrines. But when I read the Gospels, I can stare for a long time at those words Jesus said and think about them what and how He spoke for days. The teachings He delivered and how He taught them had an impact on my intellect, emotions and attitude.

Jesus foreknew that His teachings and what He did would be preached throughout the world and He had to deliver them perfectly. He said:

“I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” Luke 26:13

John overwhelmingly said:

“We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.  This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. ” 1 John 1

The words of Jesus transformed lives and still do the same throughout the world. It is essential to take the time it requires to unpack the teachings of Jesus and ask questions like why He said He was the Vine,  how He spoke to the Pharisees or when did He decide that it was time to go to Bethany to meet Lazarus. My job often requires me to reuse or modify codes that other programmers wrote. It is essential for me to understand why the programmer used a particular approach to provide a functionality. Similarly, every words spoken by Jesus had its reason. He is the Word of God made flesh and there is none beside Him who could speak God’s words.

Jesus said that if the world hated Him because of the Words He spoke, the world would still hate his disciples who remind of the Words He said(John 15:18-20).

Jesus’s message was clear: If you’re not with Him, you’re against Him (Mat. 12:30). He is the only way to God, the only truth and the source of life. If someone does not trust in Him for salvation, He is going to hell.

Reminding the world of Jesus’s message will cause disdain. People will be offended, say you’re pretentious, biased or stupid. Paul had to face this dilemma when he met with scholars and intellectuals. He had to speak of a Messiah who claimed He was God, died on a cross and rose again. Yet Paul was not ashamed of this Good News.

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes” Rom. 1:16

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” Luke 9:26