Walk as He
Walked
Jesus the Teacher: How Did Jesus Teach?
Jesus Christ was history’s greatest teacher. As a teacher, He mastered and used a wide variety of teaching methods. What were Jesus’ teaching methods?
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hortly after Jesus cleansed the temple, He had a fascinating encounter with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was one of a few religious leaders who were receptive to Christ’s teaching. It’s recorded that he came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God” (John 3:2, emphasis added throughout). Nicodemus called Jesus “Rabbi” and “teacher.” Rabbi was a title given to highly respected and distinguished Jewish teachers. It didn’t simply mean teacher, but literally my great one. It described a Jewish teacher who was highly esteemed and credible. Jesus was called Rabbi a dozen times in the four Gospels. The second word that Nicodemus used was a more general word for a teacher—didaskalos in the Greek text. Jesus was unequivocally the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of the most impressive elements of Jesus the Teacher was His incredibly diverse array of teaching
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styles and strategies. He always employed the most effective method for any particular person, group or situation. Let’s examine four of His teaching methods.
Teaching method 1: Jesus masterfully captured attention and interest.
To teach you have to capture your students’ attention. If a teacher doesn’t grab their attention quickly, meaningful learning is less likely to occur. Sometimes educators refer to an attention-grabbing device as a hook. Jesus was a master at this. Consider His conversation with Nicodemus. After Nicodemus’ greeting, Jesus made a startling statement: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus had some understanding of the Kingdom, but never connected it to this concept. Naturally, Jesus’ statement led Nicodemus to ask a series of legitimate questions. That was by design!
May/June 2023