Monday 5 August
Dr Peter J. Williams is the Principal and CEO of Tyndale House, Cambridge. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he received his MA, MPhil, and PhD in the study of ancient languages related to the Bible. He has been leading Tyndale House since 2007 and is also an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity in the University of Cambridge, Chair of the International Greek New Testament Project and a member of the Translation Oversight Committee of the English Standard Version of the Bible.
It is a wonderful privilege to be with you and to think about the extraordinary person of Jesus. We will be thinking in these five mornings of what Jesus said. Jesus is the word from God. God didn’t just communicate to us by speaking, He sent us His own son to communicate to us.
Today we will be looking at some of His sayings. The gospels are about nine hours long if you read them out loud and Jesus’ teachings account for about four and a half hours.
Churchill wrote about 8 – 10 million words – “We will fight them on the beaches.” At one particular moment it was really helpful. “This is not the beginning of the end but it is the end of the beginning.” It was powerful stuff but it is not useful every day.
Shakespeare wrote over 800,000 words. “To thine own self be true.” But in our age it can have terrible consequences. “To be or not to be that is the question.” I’m not doubting Shakespeare’s eloquence but this doesn’t give answers. “All the world’s stage..” but not really original or helpful for life.
We are just looking at half of the gospels and that gives us what Jesus is saying. We are not going to consider all the things Jesus says. We are not going to consider his stories this morning. I’m just going to look at the sayings that you could extract from Jesus in a secular context (not the religious phrases).
We will look at extracts from Jesus’ sayings in Luke 6 and put them up against modern philosophers and orators.
So what we find is that Jesus says some amazing things. We could think of them as memes. They go viral. For instance in Matthew he says, “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” What an amazing thing to say but it is in only one gospel. Jesus’ sayings are original but profound and meaningful.
Think about the amazing saying in Matthew 19:12 “For there are eunuchs who have been born so from birth.” What an amazing insight. Before any of the talk we have in modern gender movements, Jesus recognised that some people are born non-typically. But that isn’t the same as the modern idea of a gender spectrum or a choice. What Jesus gives us is complete perfect wisdom that will be incredibly relevant for generations but doesn’t fall into any of the traps of modern culture.
I have taught in various settings. When I really know my topic, I can simplify. Jesus knows and understands His subject matter so he can make things simple.
Mark 14:7 “The poor you will always have with you.” What an amazing statement about the world. Capitalists might say, the poor are always with you because they do not work hard enough. Left wing folks might say the poor are always with you because of their oppressors. Jesus doesn’t subscribe to any political views but He understands the human condition.
There are supremely wise sayings that work in all of life. John 8:32 “The truth will set you free.” “Greater love has no man than this, to lay down His life for His friends.”
Jesus has more wisdom than anyone you can find. Now let’s look at our passage.
Luke 6:27-42 (ESV)
Look at v27 – it says “Love your enemies.” As far as we know, no one had ever said that or anything like that. Surely by definition your enemies are the ones you hate? What a radical thing to do. And yet you cannot think of something more helpful in the world today than this. The most helpful teacher for our world, even in secular terms, is Jesus Christ. What more ethical foundation could one need, looking at the terrible things happening in Ukraine. Israel and Gaza. It is not a political solution but when taken seriously, there is nothing more transformational.
Sometimes you get great teachers who say one thing and do something different. With Jesus Christ there is absolute 100% alignment between what He says and what He does.
Romans 5 – while we were still sinners Christ died for us. When we were His enemy, He loved us. He lived what He preached.
And then in case you wanted to think that love was just a feeling, the second half makes it more practical… “do good to those who hate you.”
Elon Musk was marvelling the other day on his social media platform about the “turn the other cheek ethic”. Who does it come from? Who is the inventor of this concept? It is Jesus.
V31 Do unto others what you would have them do to you. Many secular and human associations say this is the ethic they live by – the golden rule. Jesus came up with this and He lived it.
This is not mutual back scratching. It is not about being nice to being in order that they will be nice to you. It is manipulation. That is not what Jesus said. He is saying even if they give nothing back. His ethic is superior and it is grounded in the truth of who God is.
V37 “Judge not and you will not be judged… the measure you use on others will be used to you. “ Who is the first person to say this? It is Jesus Christ. How applicable is it today!
Why do you see the speck in your brothers eye and not notice the log in your own? Almost as if it comes from a carpenter! We point out others’ faults but forget that we have our own faults. Jesus says, sort yourself out first. He calls them hypocrites. It is a word that we use quite a lot. Jesus was the first person to come up with this word. He first put his finger on hypocrisy.
This is a Greek work for being an actor. He saw that the Pharisees were separating from everything that they considered wrong. But Jesus says, “you are like actors.” It is like “virtue signalling” today. Pretending to be good, to be pious. You look good on the outside. You look respectable. Within our culture, we virtue signal by saying you care about the issues of the world but not caring for what’s on your doorstep.
It is really easy to sort out the problems of the past. Apologise for some past sins. It doesn’t cost us. It is virtue signalling. But they were not concerned about the injustice right in front of them.
Jesus’ teaching is simply amazing.
Jesus can do it because He is the only human who was not an actor. The only one who showed His true self. There was no falsehood in Him. He said, “I am the truth.” Jesus knows the heart of humans and He came into the world to die for His enemies. What an amazing teacher. There is no one more amazing.
Let us be more and more amazed by what He says and how His teachings align with His life. We need to be transformed through His teaching and through His sacrifice on the cross into His likeness