[0:00] So get your Bibles open this morning to John chapter 3. It's where we're going to begin. John chapter 3. I've told you that we were going to kind of transition!
[0:10] with this lesson or course on teaching. Thank you. And so what we've covered so far is that teaching is not inferior to preaching, although it in some circles gets undermined and overlooked.
[0:35] And we covered the importance of teaching. We covered that there's different roles or different means of teaching. And pastors and teachers is an obvious one.
[0:47] Parents, another obvious one. Sounds like there's a new baby in the nursery. It just feels like that right now. Is that true? Let's all take a break and go visit the new baby. Okay.
[0:58] There's two new babies for this church in the nursery today. Praise the Lord. Okay. So where was I at? It's that easy. At the babies. At the babies.
[1:09] Teaching the babies. So the teachers are pastors. There's parents. There's other means. The Holy Ghost teaches using the Word of God. And then I think it was last or two Sundays ago when we last covered this topic that I showed you that you yourselves are teachers.
[1:26] Each member of the local church that comes and attends the church, you're declaring something with your presence, with your attitude, with your engagement, with your attention. You're teaching those around you, whether it's your children, whether it's the person behind you in the pew.
[1:42] You're always displaying to others what this means to you. And when God brings a new believer into a church, that new believer should be able to understand within a short amount of time that this is very important.
[1:57] And they should be able to see that these people believe what they're doing here. They're not dragging themselves in on Sunday morning. They're not just waiting for it to be over. They're not excusing themselves as many times as they can because they truly don't want to be sitting in here and doing this.
[2:12] And so even if that is your attitude and the way you operate, you're teaching and displaying that as well. And so there was a lot to say there. We won't rehash it all. Now I want to transition into the teacher, the greatest teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:27] And learning some things, just some practices, some things he used to, I don't know, methods maybe is the way to say it, some effective teaching methods.
[2:39] If he in fact is the greatest teacher of all, then let's just consider how he taught and what he did. And what you're going to find out, you're going to say, well, I'm not a teacher. And well, yes, you are.
[2:50] I already covered that. But beyond that, if you want to train up a child in the way you should go, or if you want to witness to somebody who's lost, they're blinded by the blindness of their hearts, or the God of this world blinded the minds of them which believe not.
[3:05] They don't understand what comes out of your mouth. They don't understand why you do what you do. So if you're going to witness to them effectively, then maybe you need to implement some of these strategies and methods that the Lord Jesus Christ used.
[3:19] I'm starting in John 3, just as a way of kicking off, because it's very, very familiar. And I want to show you what Jesus Christ does. He communicates a truth, and then he goes and expounds, explains that truth in a relatable way, in a way that anybody, or at least particularly whatever the audience is, can receive that truth.
[3:41] So let's start in verse number one. There came a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
[3:57] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?
[4:14] Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? So Jesus states the truth. He communicates the truth to Nicodemus. What he said, every word of verse 3, is truth.
[4:26] Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. There's the truth. But it's way over Nicodemus' head. Nicodemus is not a four-year-old child.
[4:38] He's not struggling in school. He's a ruler of the Jews. As far as an educated, intellectual man that should understand and receive spiritual truth, he's your guy.
[4:52] And what Jesus says to him is far over his head. So who in the world is going to understand anything that this teacher sent from God teaches? So he's not just going to communicate the truth.
[5:05] He's not just going to throw it on him and walk away. He's going to expound. He's going to put it in relatable terms. He's going to cause him to understand. Nicodemus did not challenge what Jesus said.
[5:18] He did not mock what Jesus said. He didn't roll his eyes and be born again, whatever that means. He didn't say, this is stupid. I'm wasting my time.
[5:29] He didn't walk away. He believed what Jesus said. He took him word for word at face value. The verb there was be born. You have to be born? How can a man be born?
[5:43] He's right on. He believes what he was told. How can a man be born when he's old? That doesn't make sense to me. The only thing about birth that makes sense is from the mother's womb.
[5:55] So put two to two together. Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, be born? That's a serious, genuine question. He's not rolling his eyes. So let's continue.
[6:07] Verse 5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. Two things here. There's the second time. Of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
[6:18] That which is born of flesh, there's the first, is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit, there's the second, is Spirit. Marvel not. Don't wonder. Don't be curious here.
[6:29] Why I say unto thee, you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth. And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.
[6:41] So is every one that is born of the Spirit. You can't see it. You can't predict it. It's something that's invisible to the human eye.
[6:53] But you can tell when it happens. But you can't see it. It's spiritual. He's communicating to him. And so he uses the wind. A natural, earthly thing.
[7:05] A physical thing that every man understands. We can hear the wind, but we can't see the wind. And therefore, the new birth that Jesus speaks of, when he said it's spiritual, it is spirit.
[7:17] Being born again is a spiritual birth. You're not going to feel it. You're not going to see it with your eyes. It's a spiritual thing. He's communicating to him a truth that is over the head of a ruler of the Jews, an intellectual, religious man, but is using earthly terms that even a three, four-year-old child does understand.
[7:41] Now, this is his, I'm just using this to show you, this is his way. This is a way, and there's going to be many of them. Now, if I just declared to you that the area of a circle, I had to look this up because I forget this stuff.
[7:54] The area of a circle is pi r squared. Okay, so now we figured that out. Let's go on. If a teacher introduces that to the class for the first time and pretends like, okay, we're going to have a test on that tomorrow, no one understands any of that.
[8:11] And so you have to draw the circle, and you have to show what the r, the radius, is, and squaring that radius, multiplying it by itself, and the magical infinite number pi, what a wonderful thing if you're into that stuff.
[8:25] You'll never find the end of that number. At least man hasn't found it yet. But nevertheless, we can calculate to the best of our ability using that formula, the area of a circle. A teacher would expound on that.
[8:37] A teacher would give a visual chart to show you the circle. A teacher would write it out, would do several applications of that formula using real numbers for the student then to get it because I understand numbers, and I see the circle, and now I can put together how we solved it, how we got to where we got.
[8:57] A teacher would do that. Imparting the truth is one thing, but then enlightening the student or the lost sinner or the child or whatever the case, that's something else.
[9:09] Getting that light to switch on is what we're after. So we want to use methods like the Lord Jesus Christ did, methods that are relatable. So I don't know if you in here teach a Sunday school class.
[9:22] Some of you do that, take turns on a rotation. Others of you get opportunities to witness to people, and you talk to lost people, and they don't understand a thing about the Bible. They don't understand things about spiritual nature.
[9:34] It's just, it's over their heads. So you want to be able to communicate these truths. Let's just study what Jesus Christ did. Let's study how He did this. Look at Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5.
[9:48] And I'm going to take you through a few categories. I will not be exhaustive in this, although I'll show you several examples in each category. One thing that Jesus Christ did quite commonly was used simple illustrations.
[10:07] Simple, like quick hitters, just boom, just one verse explaining what He meant. And I'll show you what He does. He gives, He delivers the truth, like He did with Nicodemus.
[10:20] He told you the truth. You've got to be born again. But when you don't understand that truth, He's going to back it up with something that's very relatable, something you can see with your eyes and put your hands on.
[10:31] Matthew chapter 5 and verse 13. Ye are the salt of the earth. What in the world does that mean?
[10:43] You're the salt of the earth. Why are you calling me salt? What are you trying to get at? Well, then He's going to expound it some more. If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salt?
[10:56] Is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, be trodden under the foot of men. He's speaking to the nation of Israel that are to bring that savor and that flavor, so to speak, into the world.
[11:07] Without it, it's just bland and dead and dark. But they have the truth. They not only have the salt, they have something else. Verse 14. Ye are the light of the world.
[11:18] He's talking about a nation of people here. And He uses something that everybody understands, salt and what that does, the effect that it has. Light, the effect that it has.
[11:29] A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
[11:44] This is so quick. It's salt. It's light. He does not go into a discourse about salt, nor does He go into a lengthy discourse about light. It's just a quick hitter. It's just passing.
[11:55] He's not intending to park there and to draw out every detail that could be drawn out. He's just coupling what they are as a nation, saying it's just like that.
[12:06] It's just like that. Here's another one. Look at chapter 6. And look at verse 25. Watch how the Lord Jesus Christ lays out a truth or He communicates a truth to them, and then He explains it.
[12:21] Verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment?
[12:33] So don't worry about those things. It's what He's telling them, talking to His audience. Don't worry about those things. So they just stand there with a blank stare on their face. What do you mean we're not supposed to worry about what we eat and what we drink and what we wear?
[12:48] Where are we going to get it from if we don't plan ahead and worry about that stuff? So He's going to illustrate. Behold, the fowls of the air. Go look at the birds.
[12:59] They sow not like a farmer planting. Neither do they reap nor gather in the barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? They'd have to answer yes.
[13:13] The Father does care for us more than He cares for the birds of the air. Verse 28. Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin.
[13:25] They don't make their own clothes. Yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, here's the lesson, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
[13:44] Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things that do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
[13:56] But seek ye first, first, first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. He uses birds and He uses flowers, the fowls and the flowers, to illustrate the overall abundant care of the Father for His children.
[14:17] The love that He has for them, the watchful eye that He has over them, and they understand, of course, these birds don't worry about this stuff. Of course, the flowers don't think and they don't work like that.
[14:28] And if God takes care of them, He'll take care of me, and let's get on with seeking the kingdom of God. Look at chapter 7. Chapter 7. And we're going to go through a few of these, but you're going to see it's just one after the other, after the other, after the other, showing you this is a method that Jesus Christ used to impart spiritual truth to a people who otherwise don't understand.
[14:54] Verse 1. Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. There's the truth that He is communicating.
[15:07] Now let me illustrate. Verse 3. So this is hyperbole.
[15:19] Nobody has a beam in their eye, but this is what He needs them to see and understand. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite.
[15:33] First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. So men are guilty of judging one another hypocritically.
[15:45] Remember what He said to the woman, to those men that were accusing the adulteress, let him that is without sin cast the first stone, where they were quick and ready to judge that woman for her sin, and Jesus Christ wouldn't have it.
[15:59] And so He's worried about these men being hypocrites. So He uses something that they all understand, a little mote, a little something in your eye that you need to get out. It messes with your vision, versus something enormous that would completely obstruct your vision, and from seeing clearly, or from judging clearly and impartially.
[16:19] Look at chapter 7, verse 7. When it comes to asking your Father in heaven for the needs that you have, He illustrates it just like a child and a parent.
[16:30] Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall be opened. That's the truth.
[16:41] That's what He communicated. He's speaking of your relationship with your Father. Illustration. Verse 9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
[16:52] Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know not how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?
[17:04] This is like opening the eyes of these men and women that are hearing him. It's all relatable stuff. It's all understandable. So this is the relationship that we're to have with our heavenly Father.
[17:19] And now it's clear. Continue in the chapter. Look at verse 13. Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.
[17:31] Because straight is the gate, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. There's a truth in there, and it's expounded upon in terms that they can see and visualize and understand.
[17:44] Every one of them walk on roads every day of their life. Some are narrow and straight and go between tight spaces. Others, very broad and very popular and very easy travel.
[18:00] Nobody is looking for a road that's going to take them to heaven. Nobody's believing this is literal and we need to go find this narrow road. It's hidden from...
[18:10] No. They all understand this is an illustration, a quick illustration, and he moves on to the next one, verse 15. Beware of false prophets. There's the warning. There's the word for them.
[18:21] Beware of false prophets. Let me illustrate. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're ravening wolves. They look good on the outside.
[18:32] They're gentle on the outside. They're well-mannered, well-educated, but on the inside they're full of death. Matthew 23 says they're full of dead men's bones.
[18:45] They're likened there to whited sepulchers, beautiful on the outside, but death is on the inside. How does he illustrate that? He continues, not just by talking about sheep's clothing and wolves, but now he talks about fruit trees.
[18:59] Who doesn't know about a fruit tree? Everybody understands this stuff. Verse 16. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?
[19:11] Applied, no, never. Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
[19:21] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits, ye shall know them. Who's the they are? It's the false prophets of verse 15.
[19:34] I have to say on the side here, be careful that you don't apply this to the salvation of someone's soul, saying, well, if they were really saved, then we would see it in their life. That's not what the teaching is.
[19:46] And people always misinterpret this and take this and go to salvation. This is exactly one thing. False prophets. By their fruits, ye shall know them.
[19:56] If they're evil, here's why you can't apply it to salvation. Because in this age, inside of you and me, is evil and good. I've got the old man and the new man.
[20:09] Paul said, evil dwelleth. Sin dwelleth in me. And he said evil. What's the term there he used? Did he say evil dwelleth in me? I know that when I would do good, evil dwelleth with me.
[20:21] Romans 7. Evil. So he's an evil tree. Well, you're going to bring forth both as long as we're in this wretched body of sin. So this is not applicable to the salvation of your soul in this age.
[20:37] Don't distort it. When people talk like that, they're misleading people. And it's wrong. All right, let's continue here. There's false prophets likened to two things there. And so at the end of chapter 7, after three chapters, five, six, and seven, he's going to summarize the whole body of teaching, saying you're either going to listen to what I say or you're not going to listen to what I say.
[20:59] Verse 24. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell not, but it was founded upon a rock.
[21:16] Everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built a house upon the sand. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall.
[21:27] So, individually, he's addressing and imparting truth, communicating truth, truth, truth, and illustrating quickly all along the way with salt and light and fowls and, not fruit yet, what was the other, flowers, and then fruit, and moat in your eyes, and just, it's everyday life stuff, stuff you see everyday, and it's normal.
[21:52] He's communicating and expounding these truths, and when it all comes to the end, he says, now let me even liken what this whole body of truth is about if you'll listen and obey and do what I tell you to do, you'll be like this, and if you don't, you'll be like that.
[22:05] It'll be destruction for you. It'll be stability if you listen to the words of God. All of these are simple illustrations, and there's something that Jesus Christ, I could continue.
[22:17] It's just his method. It's taking something spiritual and over our heads and bringing it down to our level where we can see it and feel it and understand it. He does it with other things.
[22:29] Look at chapter 18. I'll give you another category. The first one, just simple, quick illustrations. These are not stories. These are just quick hitters, I'm calling them.
[22:43] There's another thing he used, and here we'll find one of these in Matthew chapter 18, another method for teaching. You could almost lump all of this into illustration.
[22:54] In some way, it's illustrating, it's just, I'll categorize it as something else. Verse 1 says, at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? There's the question.
[23:06] This is the problem. Who is the greatest? So Jesus Christ is going to give them an answer. How shall I answer this people? Verse 2, Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them.
[23:20] So what's number 2? The second category is an object lesson. And that is, front and center is a little child, and I'm going to answer your question by showing you something that you can look at.
[23:35] Now in the other cases, he didn't go get salt and do some experiment and say, there, isn't that neat? See, this is what Jesus does. It wasn't a Sunday school thing. It was just making them picture it.
[23:47] But now he's bringing front and center. Bring me a little child. Is there a little child here? Bring a little child. I'm not serious. This is how he acted. And he set the child in the midst and they're all thinking, what are we doing here?
[24:01] What's this have to do with being great in the kingdom of heaven? But he's going to make them see this. Verse 3, He said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children.
[24:15] And there they are to look at that little child and to see that that little child's helpless. That little child is not great by any means in this world. Nobody's going to that child for wisdom and advice.
[24:28] Nobody's relying upon that little child for anything in this world. But that child is dependent upon them and upon everybody else for everything. He says, Until you get to that.
[24:42] And so now they see. When it's in front of their face, when they're looking, now they have an object lesson. This is what Jesus Christ does to impart spiritual truth. How does this relate to you?
[24:54] Well, if you're witnessing to somebody and you're going to have to be just, I don't know, you're just going to have to let the Lord guide you into this, but be looking for it. You're going to, you're at work, you just, you look at a machine, you look at something that's in the room with you and say, you see that?
[25:12] And you attempt to relate that in some way to somebody. I've done this on the porches of people. I remember walking up to a porch and just like, I'm just looking around.
[25:23] I'm trying to read the house by what's on the porch. Is it decorated? Is it clean? Is there muddy shoes? Is there toys? Is there stuff in the yard? It's just like, I'm trying to pull all this information in to understand maybe what's going to come out the door and where they are.
[25:38] And I remember talking to people and saying, hey, you've got kids because the evidence is everywhere. And then using that as a way to try to work a gospel truth. Look at chapter 26.
[25:51] Chapter 26. This is the method that Jesus Christ used in teaching. If you want to learn how to impart truth then study these methods. Simple illustrations.
[26:03] Secondly is object lessons. Matthew 26. In verse 26. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it.
[26:20] Gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat. This is my body. And one by one he ripped a piece of bread off of that loaf and handed it.
[26:34] And he ripped a piece of bread and he ripped a piece of bread and he said, it's my body which is broken for you. Right in front of their eyes he's ripping the bread apart.
[26:45] Ripping the bread apart. It says later that he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink ye all of it for this is my blood in the New Testament. Now, it doesn't give the details.
[26:57] Did he, was it already in the cup? Had to get in the cup somehow. I imagine that he poured it out, poured forth from a vessel into the cup and saying, this is my blood and this is just my thinking.
[27:09] It's not in the text that he's pouring out that pitcher into the cup showing them this is what my blood is. It's being poured out for you in the New Testament. Now, at any rate, they got to see with their eyes and handle with their hands the bread and the cup.
[27:27] Illustrative of what? Of his, these are object lessons, of his body being broken, of his blood being shed for the sins of man. Turn to Mark, chapter 12.
[27:37] I'll show you another one. These are just everywhere. Mark, chapter 12. Do you remember when Jesus met certain disciples that were fishers?
[27:49] They were on the seaside. They were there mending their nets. Do you remember what words he said to them that would have caught their attention and would have also helped them to understand the spiritual versus the physical?
[28:05] they're fishermen and he says, follow me and I'm going to make you fishers of men. Nobody ever talked like that. Nobody ever said, let's go catch some men. But he's saying something that's just catching and their understanding that we're going to do this but it's not going to be for fish.
[28:24] We're going to be casting our nets. we're going to be preaching catching men. Alright, Mark, chapter 12 and looked at the end of this chapter because he's at the treasury there in the temple and he's looking at something and he beholds something.
[28:42] Verse 41, Jesus sat over against the treasury and behold how the people cast money into the treasury. And many that were rich cast in much.
[28:54] And there came a certain poor widow and she threw in two mites which make a farthing. When he saw this, he saw the rich casting in much. That's what they do. He saw this poor widow that nobody else even knew was in the building with her two little mites that nobody cares about.
[29:09] Cast them in. He caught that. Nobody else cared or caught it but he caught it and it was so important to him that he said to his disciples, hey, guys, come here.
[29:21] Hurry up. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Verse 43, he called unto him his disciples and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, this poor widow, there she goes.
[29:33] See her? See her? See her right there? There she goes. She's going out the door. That poor widow right there, she cast in more than all they which have cast into the treasury.
[29:47] Now, immediately, that just doesn't compute. she didn't come in here carrying any large sacks of coins or any valuables. It's impossible for her to have given much.
[30:02] She doesn't have anything. And he continues, for they that did cast in, for all they did cast in of their abundance, but she, of her want, did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
[30:16] When Jesus saw this, he used it as an object lesson to these men. He took advantage of an event that was witnessed in front of him to explain a truth that two small, worthless, insignificant coins from an otherwise worthless, insignificant woman means more to God than what all of these great, rich, wealthy people dump in and get praise for.
[30:46] They're getting their names put on buildings. They're getting recognized from the pulpits and saying, Brother so-and-so, we want to thank you for your giving. You're such a great brother.
[30:58] We couldn't do it without you. But Jesus Christ just ignores all of that nonsense and he sees the one that gave of her want, even all her living, and he said, Boys, you better take note of that one.
[31:11] You need to learn that giving to God is not about the mount. It's not about how big the check is. It's about the heart. It's about what you're giving out of.
[31:23] And that woman gave more. He said that she hath cast in more than all they which have cast, all they which have cast into the treasury.
[31:37] So that's a spiritual truth. You see, this is not, that doesn't compute in any way. Try to do the math, do the numbers. Let's add up all they which cast into the treasury and that was a pretty good day.
[31:49] This lady gave two mites. We wouldn't even add that to the treasury. And Christ is teaching them something. They would never have thought that. They would never see that, never believe that to be true.
[32:02] And so he used that illustration. What he saw, that object lesson really. We're running out of time. Let's go to John chapter 13. Not even going to get through these two.
[32:15] John 13. If you know your Bible, you know there's a an illustration and an example that Jesus Christ sets forth in this chapter and it's an object lesson.
[32:37] It's not something that we're to carry forth going forward as an ordinance but it's a lesson in humility. And this is before he's crucified after the supper.
[32:50] Verse 2 says, Supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Jesus a scary and Simon's son to betray him. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand that he was come from God and went to God he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself.
[33:08] After that he poured water into a basin began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. One by one by one going around the room washing the feet.
[33:21] He comes to Peter and Peter resists him and comes off with some nonsense that just showing you he doesn't understand what's going on at all. It sounds noble but it's not.
[33:33] And so the Lord come to the end of this verse 12 So after he had washed their feet taken his garments and sat down again he said unto them Know ye what I have done to you? You know what just happened here fellas?
[33:45] I just gave you something to think about. An example. I just I'm teaching you something. And he says in verse 13 You call me Master and Lord so I'm up here and you're down here and so I am If I then your Master and Lord have washed your feet that's what a servant does they should be washing his feet like Peter thought.
[34:10] I didn't point that out I should have. Peter said Dost thou wash my feet in verse 6? That's not the way it should be. Verse where are we at here verse 14 15 I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you.
[34:28] I verily verily I say unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord neither he that sent greater than he that sent him if you know these things happier ye if you do them. So you are here to serve.
[34:40] You are here to serve one another. And it's not about washing anybody's feet. It's about humbling yourself to be a servant. And this is a teaching that shows up a few other times sprinkled through the gospels about being subject one to another and about the son of man coming to minister not to be ministered unto you but to minister and to give his life.
[35:06] So this is hands-on teaching. This is even like group participation but it's an object lesson nonetheless. Many of the prophets as I'm just using Jesus Christ to show his methods but many of the prophets God put them in positions where they themselves were object lessons some really wild stuff when you read through some of these prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel and Hosea some of the things that they had to do with taking a whore for a wife and having children so they could be children of whoredoms literally and then that's the example and the lesson that has to go out being buck naked for an extended amount of time laying on their side or digging a hole a ditch or building this city and then destroying it and just on and on these prophets were forced by God or commanded by God to be visuals to be object lessons and so the application for us is in understanding how the greatest teacher of all ever taught it's to take what we know spiritually to be true we understand it from the word of God that it's to be able to impart that on a lower level using the things that you see using the scriptures even using the exact ones that Jesus Christ did if need be but also being flexible to be able to talk it out with whatever's around you the greatest teachers use illustrations and they illustrate by bringing things that are over your head down to your level now if you're dealing with little children in a classroom setting then you're going to have to bring it way down but if you're dealing with adults and sometimes adults that are smarter than you you're just going to have to do it in a way that you're the spiritual truth is over their head no matter how smart they are and if you understand the word of God then you're up there with that so you're going to have to bring that down to their level in a way that they can receive it so we're going to stop here there's a couple more categories we'll pick it up next time and just finish off and then have a few more comments about this probably go one more week
[37:23] I think with this study on teaching and using Jesus Christ and his methods as the greatest teacher of all so let's dismiss there and we'll come back at the top of the hour so let's have a small so let's have a small small