The Incomparable Teaching of Jesus as Evidence of His Deity
The purpose of this essay is to consider one particular aspect of the basic argument for the deity of Christ (as developed by Thomas B. Warren). The total argument is presented as a hypothetical syllogism:
1. If the particular characteristics of the person and work of Jesus Christ are such as to be beyond those of mere men, then Jesus is the divine Son of God.
2. The particular characteristics of the person and work of Jesus Christ are such as to be beyond those of mere men.
3. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God.
The particular aspect of the basic argument to be dealt with here has to do with the teaching of Jesus. If He was divine, we would expect Him to be the greatest of teachers, speakers, thinkers, etc. Such is exactly what we find upon examination of the four Gospel accounts of His life. The teaching of Jesus was beyond human ability to conceive and deliver. This unparalleled teaching, while not sufficient, is a necessary condition of proving the claim that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God.
The first crowds to hear Jesus preach and teach knew that He was different. Those auditors easily recognized that He was unlike any rabbi, philosopher or teacher they had ever heard. “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29, all Scripture references from the ESV unless otherwise noted). “And when Jesus had finished these parables, He went away from there, and coming to His hometown He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?’” (Matthew 13:53-54). What would they do with this man? Would they ignore Him, dismissing His words as those of a madman? Would they punish Him, understanding His teaching to be lies and thus blasphemy? Or would they bow before Him, recognizing that He is both Lord and Christ? Jesus Himself had asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). To understand both the explicit teachings of Jesus as well as the implications makes all the difference in the world.
If Jesus is divine, we owe Him our love and our lives. If He was merely one great teacher among many great teachers in history, we owe Him nothing (though we might derive some benefit from learning some of the things He taught). However, He will not allow us such a choice. He claimed to be divine (John 10:30-33; 14:6-10; et al.). Therefore, all men must now choose between embracing Him as Lord or rejecting Him as a fraud. There really is no middle ground. This is the very reason that in the context of considering the teaching of Jesus (specifically His teaching that He had the authority to forgive sins), C. S. Lewis gave us his now famous “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” scenario or tri-lemma. Countless are the apologists, theologians, and preachers who have either quoted or adapted from this work. [Note: We have no need of adding the fourth category (“Legend”) that so many modern-day apologists have added to Lewis’ work since it is a presupposition of this essay that Jesus was an actual historical person.] Lewis said:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (52)
To emphasize these thoughts from Lewis, one cannot give serious consideration to the claims of Jesus and call Him a great human teacher. He is either God in the flesh, or He is deluded and/or a charlatan. To be sure, we are convinced that the teaching of Jesus puts Him on a level that is above all others who have ever taught. John R. W. Stott wrote, “If the Jesus who thus taught with authority was the Son of God made flesh, we must bow to His authority and accept His teaching. We must allow our opinions to be molded by His opinions, our views to be conditioned by His views” (210). He continued, “If Jesus of Nazareth were a mere man, it would be ludicrous thus to submit our minds and our wills to Him. But because He is the Son of God, it is ludicrous not to do so” (213).
So what are some of the specific ideals that set Jesus apart from all other teachers? Thomas B. Warren has supplied us with the following list (edited and adapted here for space):
Jesus was the incomparable teacher because . . .
1. The circumstances of His teaching were unique. He never formally studied pedagogy, yet it is clear that He knew more about teaching than anyone who ever lived.
2. He had perfect knowledge of the subject matter He taught: (1) God, and (2) God’s will. He knew the Father perfectly and never had to guess His will. No teacher has ever had such command of their material.
3. He had perfect knowledge of the people whom He taught. He knew perfectly the thoughts, needs, motives, and goals of every person He taught (cf. John 2:25).
4. He always utilized the perfect (most appropriate) teaching method. Each lesson perfectly fit the audience and was exactly what the person(s) needed to hear. He adapted His methods to the particular person or group He wished to teach.
5. He had an utterly pure purpose. There were no selfish, greedy or vain motives and no hidden agendas in His teaching. He simply came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10; John 8:32; 17:3).
6. He practiced perfectly what He taught. Jesus not only taught that the will of God should be obeyed, He Himself obeyed that law without ever failing even once (Hebrews 4:15; 5:8-9; 1 Peter 2:20-21).
7. He had an unmatched love for the truth. He never once compromised the truth. He knew it was no act of friendship for a teacher to compromise the truth in order to avoid hurting the feelings of His auditors.
8. He had an unmatched vision. His desire was for His disciples to carry the Gospel message to the entire world.
9. He set the ultimate moral standard. Not only did Jesus condemn such actions as adultery, He went behind/ beyond the act and even condemned the lust in the heart which motivated the physical action.
10. He taught a message that had far-reaching effects for good–more so than any other teacher. Wherever His message was taught, there was a phenomenal amount of benefit to mankind.
11. He loved His students more than any other teacher. Every action, lecture, sermon and command was done/given in love (Mark 10:21; Romans 5:8-9).
12. He spoke with incomparable authority. He did not seek to enforce His teaching by referring to various religious leaders–He had all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20). (8-11)
To this list of twelve by Warren, we would add three of our own. First, Jesus was the incomparable teacher because of the way He utilized logic. In his now famous and highly influential essay, “Jesus the Logician,” Dallas Willard has noted, “He constantly uses the power of logical insight to enable people to come to the truth about themselves and about God from the inside of their own heart and mind” (2768). Willard further commented:
Jesus’ aim in utilizing logic is not to win battles, but to achieve understanding or insight in his hearers. That is, he does not try to make everything so explicit that the conclusion is forced down the throat of the hearer. Rather, he presents matters in such a way that those who wish to know can find their way to, can come to, the appropriate conclusion as something they have discovered–whether or not it is something they particularly care for. (2688)
Douglas Groothuis has done extensive work on Jesus’ use of logical argument in His teaching. In his book, On Jesus, he explains how Jesus was adept at utilizing such methods as escaping the horns of a dilemma, a fortiori (Latin: “from the stronger”) arguments, appeal to evidence in argument, and reductio ad absurdum arguments (26-35). [Also see Habits of the Mind by James W. Sire, 178-204.] In his article, “Jesus: Philosopher and Apologist,” Groothuis writes, “Presenting Jesus as a worthy thinker can be a powerful apologetic tool to unbelievers who wrongly assume that Christian belief is a matter of blind faith or irrational belief. In addition, Jesus’ strategies in argument can serve as a model for our own apologetic defense of the truth and rationality of Christianity.”
Dick Sztanyo also contends that the way in which Jesus employed the use of logic points to His divinity. He wrote:
. . . Jesus never set forth an invalid argument, but He exposed others in their fallacious reasoning.
We have to account for this amazing capability. From a human perspective, Jesus was an uneducated man. So were His followers who recorded these examples. Of course, it is inconceivable that the “Logos” (the rational Spirit of the universe, cf. John 1:1ff.) would violate the principles of logical reasoning, since He gave men these rational powers in the first place. This is strong evidence for His claim to being the Son of God. (246)
Second, Jesus was also the incomparable teacher because of the connections He made to the Old Testament. Consider the words recorded in Matthew 5:17-20. Specifically, in verse 17, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Scholars have debated at length as to exactly what Jesus meant by this. One view is that Jesus is teaching that the Old Testament prophets were pointing forward to Him. He is the fulfillment of prophecy. According to D. A. Carson, Jesus is not teaching that He is abolishing the Old Testament as canon but that “the Old Testament’s real and abiding authority must be understood through the person and teaching of him to whom it points and who so richly fulfills it” (175). Stephen J. Wellum wrote:
The Christological claim is simply staggering. Jesus understands himself to be the eschatological goal of the Old Testament, the one that the Old Testament has always been pointing forward to, ultimately the one in whom all God’s plans and promises are realized, and thus he is the Old Testament’s sole authoritative interpreter. In other words, Jesus understands himself as having the authority of God and is thus identified with him; indeed he claims to be the one in whom God’s entire plan finds culmination and telos. (75)
Third, and finally, Jesus was the incomparable teacher because it was recognized that His teachings were intended to usher in a new period in the world’s history (the promised kingdom). Wellum points out,
Jesus’ teaching and miracles are presented qualitatively different than anything that has preceded him, thus signifying his unique identity vis-à-vis his Father and all those who preceded him. In other words, in his teaching and healing ministry, Jesus is not presented as a mere man–even a sinless man–who is specially endowed by the Spirit with incredible wisdom and power. (73)
There had been other great teachers before. There had even been miracle workers before. However, even with all the powerful prophets who had come before Him, none of the other’s teachings were understood as inaugurating God’s long-awaited and promised kingdom. A new age dawned with the coming and teaching of Jesus. The world would never be the same.
Historian Philip Schaff had this to say about the power of His teaching:
Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all the philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of the orator or poet; without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art and songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. . . . Christ stands . . . solitary and alone among all the heroes of history, and presents to us an insolvable problem, unless we admit him to be more than man, even the eternal Son of God. (29-30)
We conclude with these thoughts from Thomas B. Warren: “Jesus was the incomparable teacher. This fact is compelling evidence in favor of the conclusion that He is the Son of the only true God. He was so marvelously unique as a teacher that He simply could not have been merely a human being. We are driven to the conclusion that He was Divine” (11). The officers who had been sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus said it this way, “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46). Indeed. No one ever has, nor shall anyone ever rival the teaching of Jesus. He is the Son of God.
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am” (John 13:13).
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Thomas Bart Warren did undergraduate work at Oklahoma Christian University and holds two graduate degrees from Freed-Hardeman University. He is the grandson of Thomas B. Warren and is Vice President of Warren Christian Apologetics Center. He serves as Associate Editor of Sufficient Evidence. Mr. Warren may be contacted at bartwarren@ yahoo.com.
Works Cited
Carson, D.A. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition). Vol. 9. Eds. Tremper Longman, III and David E. Garland. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.
Groothuis, Douglas. “Jesus: Philosopher and Apologist.” Equip.org. 9 June 2009. Web. 25 August 2013.
- - - . On Jesus. Stamford: Thompson Wadsworth, 2003.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1952.
Schaff, Philip. The Person of Christ: The Perfection of His Humanity Viewed as a Proof of His Divinity. London: Nisbet, 1880.
Sire, James W. Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000.
Stott, John R. W. Christ the Controversialist. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1970.
Sztanyo, Dick. Graceful Reason: Studies in Christian Apologetics. Vienna: Warren Christian Apologetics Center, 2012.
Warren, Thomas B. “Jesus – The Incomparable Teacher” The Spiritual Sword. 1.3 (1970): 8-11.
Wellum, Stephen J. “The Deity of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels” The Deity of Christ (Theology in Community). Eds. Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.
Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. Kindle.