19. What Jesus Said
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to have had the opportunity to listen to Jesus as he preached and taught? It is clear from the size of the crowds he drew that people loved to listen to him, but did he repeat the same sermon in different locations, or did he always have something new to talk about? What was the focus of his teaching? Was it always the same?
We can get some idea of what Jesus spoke about from the four gospels, of course, but even the gospel writers admit that they only scratched the surface in recording what they did. John tells us: "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). While John speaks specifically of Jesus' deeds, the same could doubtless be said of the words Christ spoke.
But we can certainly get a good idea of what Jesus preached about from the gospels. If we try to count the verses on specific subjects, the exact results depend, of course, on which translation we use. If we use the New International Version as an example and add up the verses on the different subjects Jesus spoke on, we come up with some interesting facts. Counting Verses Actually, the New International Version has done some of the work for us. The NIV "QuickView Bible" includes an infographic that summarizes some of the teachings of Jesus as they were recorded in the gospels. According to this list, there are 717 verses in the NIV New Testament on the subject of "Spiritual Life" in the words of Jesus, but this is so broad as to not be very helpful – most of what Jesus spoke about had some relation to spiritual life! It's more illuminating to realize, as the graphic also shows, that the next largest category of Jesus' teaching (with 323 verses) was the "Last days and Judgment." That's something to think about in itself. Next is "Sin and Forgiveness" (198 verses) – again worth thinking about – and the "Kingdom of God" (123 verses).
Some of the smaller categories are interesting, too. The NIV statistics show that Jesus spoke of his own divinity in only 23 verses, though we should remember these words were spoken mainly to his disciples, privately, rather than in his public teaching. Forty-four verses show Jesus speaking about marriage and the family, and these were often answering questions people brought to him rather than being the subject of sermons – and that is actually fewer verses than on the subject of money and treasure (52 verses).
But this last fact should alert us to something. A great many of those verses on money and treasure were part of parables speaking of the kingdom of God – so those verses could be added to that category. In a similar manner, a great many of the 323 verses that show Jesus speaking of the "Last days and Judgment" could be added to the kingdom category as well. So, when we pull all the verses together where Jesus was speaking about the kingdom, this actually becomes by far the largest category. Centrality of the Kingdom We probably should not be surprised by this finding. All of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) show that the kingdom was central to the teaching of Jesus:
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness (Matthew 9:35). • After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:14-15).
But he said, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent" (Luke 4:43). These and many other verses make it clear that the kingdom of God really was the main subject that Jesus preached about. Matthew tells us that Jesus commanded his disciples to preach the same message: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).
The Gospel of John, which was written after the others, does not need to repeat many of these things, but it often clarifies details about the kingdom – as when John records for us:
Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again … Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:3-5). Today, most sermons about Jesus concentrate on his person and redeeming work, which is a vital part of the gospel, of course. But thinking about the subjects Jesus actually preached on the most should remind us that the message of the kingdom of God is still at the core of the gospel and something that we should not neglect. It's certainly a lesson we can all keep in mind as we read the four gospels – so that we do not miss the actual focus of what Jesus taught in his sermons.