The Ethical Teachings of Jesus
Introduction
To some people Jesus is most famous as a teacher of ethics and morality. Yet the ethical teachings of Jesus, that has been forwarded to us, are recounted in an unsystematic nature. The reason for this is probably due to the nature of our primary sources concerning the historical Jesus, as a real person of history. In spite of that, the Torah is assumed and forms the centre of Jesus’ teachings and doing the Will of God according to the Torah as interpreted by Jesus. In this essay I will be looking at some of those ethical teachings.
Repentance
Repentance or returning to God form an important part of Jesus’ ethical teaching, without which people could not be given other ethical instructions.
According to two of the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus begins his ministry by announcing the coming of the kingdom of God and calls to repentance.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15; Cf. Matthew 4:17)
Mark reports Jesus choose his disciples so he can send them out to preach (Mk 3:14) and when he did send them out to preach, “They went out and preached that people should repent.” (Mk 6:12).
The Aramaic word for repent ‘tūbh’ means to ‘return’, rather than being sorry when one has done something wrong. Accordingly, Jesus was awakening Israel to return to God and to join his movement.
The theme of repentance and returning to God is to be found in the parable of Jesus of the prodigal/ lost son. Although the word ‘repent’ or ‘repentance’ is not used the theme of repentance, represented by the prodigal son, and forgiveness, represented by the father, is presented in story mode.
“When he came to his senses, he said...I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ (Lk 15:17-19).
The son repents and decides to return to his
To some people Jesus is most famous as a teacher of ethics and morality. Yet the ethical teachings of Jesus, that has been forwarded to us, are recounted in an unsystematic nature. The reason for this is probably due to the nature of our primary sources concerning the historical Jesus, as a real person of history. In spite of that, the Torah is assumed and forms the centre of Jesus’ teachings and doing the Will of God according to the Torah as interpreted by Jesus. In this essay I will be looking at some of those ethical teachings.
Repentance
Repentance or returning to God form an important part of Jesus’ ethical teaching, without which people could not be given other ethical instructions.
According to two of the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus begins his ministry by announcing the coming of the kingdom of God and calls to repentance.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15; Cf. Matthew 4:17)
Mark reports Jesus choose his disciples so he can send them out to preach (Mk 3:14) and when he did send them out to preach, “They went out and preached that people should repent.” (Mk 6:12).
The Aramaic word for repent ‘tūbh’ means to ‘return’, rather than being sorry when one has done something wrong. Accordingly, Jesus was awakening Israel to return to God and to join his movement.
The theme of repentance and returning to God is to be found in the parable of Jesus of the prodigal/ lost son. Although the word ‘repent’ or ‘repentance’ is not used the theme of repentance, represented by the prodigal son, and forgiveness, represented by the father, is presented in story mode.
“When he came to his senses, he said...I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ (Lk 15:17-19).
The son repents and decides to return to his
Bibliography: Holy Bible. New Living Translation (NLT) Copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Jesus of Nazareth by Maurice Casey, 2010 New Jerome BIblical Commentary, edited by Raymond Brown, Jospeh Fitzymyer and Roland Murphy, 2000 The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics, edited by Robin Gill, 2000 Jesus and Judaism by E.P. Sanders, 1985 Matthew 1-7: A Commentary (Hermeneia: A Critical & Historical Commentary on the Bible) by Ulrich Luz, 2007