The User-Friendly New Testament Finding Ourselves in the Stories of Jesus

By Marilyn Green Faulkner

Wake up your scripture study with this fresh and fun companion to the New Testament! With characteristic wit, Marilyn Faulkner discusses New Testament stories like you’ve never heard them before with topics such as• Sabbath-Keeping Self-Help Session• Luke: Jesus and the Hero’s Journey• Super Powers, Spiritual Gifts, and the Parable of the Talents• Seriously, What Would Jesus Really Do? Learn to draw connections between ancient lessons from the Savior’s ministry and modern and easy-to- understand applications with this unique guide to the New Testament. Use the parable of the sower to evaluate your use of social media, get directions as you scale the Sermon on the Mount, and learn how grace helps you be born again (and again and again).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
• Release date: Apr 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781462129362

Book preview

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION: WHAT WAS JESUS REALLY LIKE?

Jesus said, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (John 17:3 KJV).

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Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

—C. S. Lewis

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From a practical standpoint, what does it mean to know Jesus Christ? Our life experiences are far removed from His. Jesus was an Orthodox Jew who lived during the time that Israel was occupied by the Romans. Thus, His life was tightly circumscribed by government control, and He enjoyed few of the freedoms that we take for granted. He was raised in a very small village and probably never traveled more than fifty miles from home during His lifetime, and if He went anywhere, He had to walk. Many of us travel fifty miles or more every day! The earliest written records we have about Him begin decades after His death, and as a result the accounts of His life and travels are somewhat confusing; they do not always tally with each other. So it is difficult to get a day-to-day account of His activities, as we can with other historical figures. How, then, can we know Jesus?

Though we are hampered in our search to know Jesus by time and circumstance, there are still ways that we can reach across the centuries to Him. For example, we can identify several roles that Jesus filled, and by examining those roles we can get a feel for what His daily routine would have been like. We know that Jesus was a master teacher, who was called Rabbi by both His followers and His enemies. We know that He was a miracle worker: accounts of His miraculous healings fill much of the gospel narrative. And we know that He claimed to be, and was acknowledged by many as the promised Messiah, the one anointed to bring God’s kingdom to the earth. A closer look at these three facets of His identity may give us a better knowledge of Him.

JESUS THE RABBI

Rabbi comes from the Hebrew word rav, which in Jesus’s day meant something like master. It was a term of respect and did not necessarily connect the designee to a particular congregation.[1] In first-century Judaism there were many itinerant rabbis who traveled from town to town, teaching and gathering disciples. Commentator David Bivin posits that as a child prodigy, Jesus would early have drawn the attention of the best theological minds of His day and would have undoubtedly received formal rabbinical training toward such a vocation. A description of rabbinical training from around this time gives us a sense of the path that a bright young scholar like Jesus would have followed:

At five years of age, one is ready for the study of the Scripture, at ten years of age one is fit for the study of the Mishnah, at the age of thirteen for bar mitzvah, at the age of fifteen for the study of Talmud, at the age of eighteen for marriage, at the age of twenty for pursuing a vocation, at the age of thirty for entering into one’s full vigor … (Avot 5:2l).[2]

David Bivin explains that although the term rabbi is anachronistic, it may be the most helpful in portraying Christ appropriately as a teacher of scripture prominent enough to attract His own students.

By the time Jesus began his public ministry, he had not only received the thorough religious training typical of the average Jew of his day, he had probably spent years studying with an outstanding sage (or sages) in the Galilee. Jesus thus appeared on the scene as a respected sage himself. He was recognized as such by his contemporaries, as passages in the New Testament illustrate.[3]

The Gospel narratives reinforce this picture of Jesus as an itinerant sage, or rabbi, traveling from place to place, depending on the hospitality of others, and taking no monetary compensation for His teaching. He was called Rabbi by Jewish leaders as well as by the common people: they expected Him to offer commentary on scripture, to have followers, and to organize informal meetings. We can visualize the Savior in these settings, because many of them are described for us. He was not just wandering around; He was following a pattern of rabbinical teaching that was very familiar to the people of His day.

Love of God’s word is paramount in the life of every Orthodox Jew, and for Jesus, the study of scripture would have included study of the Talmud, the compilations of rabbinical commentary on the law. Jesus followed the traditional pattern of giving commentary on the law, but His midrashim took a totally new direction. The commentary in the Talmud was designed to ensure that no part of the law would be violated, and to accomplish this objective many new regulations were put in place. Jesus was not the first to describe this as putting a hedge around the law: such commentary was considered essential for an Orthodox Jew to study and obey. For example, the simple injunction to not do any work on the Sabbath had mushroomed into thirty-nine categories of activities that were prohibited, from using two hands to button a button to turning on a stove. But rather than enlarge on this, as most rabbis did, Jesus sharply criticized the Jewish leaders for the confusing concoction of regulations that had strangled the spirit in which the original law was given.

Teaching in the rabbinical style by making comments about the statements in the Torah, Jesus Himself can be described as putting a hedge around the law, but His version of a hedge was completely different and quite startling. Because He saw people as capable of rising above the rules and experiencing a complete change of heart, He suggested a reexamination of every commandment from that perspective. For example, rather than enumerating in detail what was lawful to do on the Sabbath, He insisted that it was lawful simply to do good on that Holy Day. Instead of a thorny hedge of rules and restrictions, He offered a living, growing tree of life, based on the ultimate law of love. Though it was a complete departure from the customary teachings of His day, in its format His teaching was rabbinical, and in substance it was actually in keeping with the original law of Moses. Jewish commentator Amy-Jill Levine writes: Our responsibility is to love God and to love our neighbour which is what Jesus taught and it’s also what Judaism taught—and that would make sense because Jesus was Jewish.[4]

This basic tenet of Judaism had become mired in a slavish devotion to details about when and where and how the law should be obeyed. This, instead of the law itself, had become the center of rabbinic commentary. A few examples of His radical approach suffice to show the difference between the traditional approach of avoiding evil by erecting barriers and Jesus’s teaching, which was to change the mind and the heart and let the actions follow:

Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. (Matthew 5:21–22, 27–28, 43–44 KJV)

Though He might not have been assigned to a synagogue, a rabbi was viewed as a leader. People followed these rabbis from place to place to learn from them, and Jesus encouraged this. Not only did Jesus encourage disciples to come and follow me, He challenged the authority of those members of the Jewish clergy who did have authority. When Jesus said, Ye have heard, He referred to the formal teaching in the synagogue by the leaders of the Jews. By His challenge of these official statements, He not only taught a new doctrine, He placed Himself in the position of a leader, even a revolutionary. Many of the tense conflicts that took place between Jesus and the official leaders (both Jewish and Roman) arose from His natural authority over others. Even if He did not have jurisdiction over a particular synagogue, Jesus was a rabbi. When He led, people followed.

I am reminded of a humorous moment in the young life of a friend that occurred when he was serving as a missionary in Italy. Their district was meeting in a small rented building in the middle of nowhere, when suddenly the door opened and Thomas Monson, at that time one of the Twelve Apostles, strode into the room. They were, of course, completely surprised, and my friend told me he afterward congratulated himself on his presence of mind. When Elder Monson demanded to know, Who is in charge here? this elder immediately responded, Well, you are, Sir!

And thus it was with Jesus. Wherever He went, He was in charge.

JESUS THE MIRACLE WORKER

Very early on in Jesus’s ministry, He began to demonstrate control over the physical world. His first miracle was to change water into wine, and on other occasions He miraculously fed thousands of people. He healed people who were known to have suffered maladies for years; He cast the evil spirits out of others who were also well-known members of the community. In at least two cases, He raised someone from the dead in the presence of witnesses. His miracles addressed some of the greatest fears we have in life: fear of starvation, of disease, and of death. It is hard to imagine the impact this must have had on an impoverished populace that faced a daily struggle for survival. "When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick" (Matthew 8:16 NIV, italics added).

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Jesus could have cured the leper with a word. There was no need he should touch him. No need did I say? There was every need. For no one else would touch him. The healthy human hand, always more or less healing, was never laid on him; he was despised and rejected. It was a poor thing for the Lord to cure his body; he must comfort and cure his sore heart. Of all men a leper, I say, needed to be touched with the hand of love.

—George MacDonald

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That one word all gives us a sense of the magnitude of Jesus’s impact. He wasn’t a magician who did tricks; He was a miracle worker. Hundreds of people were healed by Him over the course of His ministry, and as His fame grew, the sick and the afflicted flocked to Him in droves. Jesus appeared to choose His healing moments carefully to demonstrate a higher principle, often choosing outcasts, the marginalized, and those for whom the institutionalized church had no place. Along with alleviating suffering, Jesus used His miracles to show how to live the law of Moses in a new way. A good example of the double impact of His miracles is shown in the episode where He healed the nameless woman with a feminine disorder that, because it involved bleeding, would have made her a permanent outcast.

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her (Luke 8:43 NIV). Jesus (and those observing Him as He stopped to touch this woman and speak with her) would have been perfectly familiar with this injunction from Leviticus:

When a woman has a discharge of her blood many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. (Leviticus 15:25 NIV)

Jesus chooses this woman as the recipient of His healing power, not only because of her obvious need, but to make a point: A law that was designed to protect the health of the community had become a source of additional heartbreak and suffering. Then, layered on top of this lesson about individual worth is another lesson about social justice. Jesus is enroute to the home of Jairus, head of a family of stature. This woman He has stopped to help is nameless; she is no one. Yet it is for her, as much as for Jairus, that the law of Moses was created, to give each individual importance and value in the eyes of society. Jesus reinforced with His miracles what He taught in His sermons.

One cannot overestimate the importance of Jesus as a miracle worker. Contemporary scholars who attempt to discredit every supernatural event in His life and to portray the miracles as something symbolic or even hallucinatory completely miss the point of what caused people to believe in Jesus. Professor of Judaic Studies, Shaye I. D. Cohen, explains how Christ’s miracles set Him apart:

The core of the gospels is Jesus as the miracle worker, Jesus as a man who made a deep impression upon those who he came in contact with, his ability to attract large crowds, his ability to attract a dedicated core group of followers or disciples…. After all, there presumably were many Galilean teachers or preachers in the first century of the Common Era. There will have been many who were executed by Rome as trouble makers or people who are threats to the social order. They will have been many wandering holy men around about Judea or even the Roman Empire. But this man clearly was peculiar. This man clearly made a mark, left an impression, somebody you didn’t forget. Somebody who had power in a social sense. Someone who actually was able to somehow attract, enchant, and hold a large group of followers already in his lifetime. [5]

Many readily accepted Jesus as someone with priestly authority, perhaps more because of His miraculous healings than because of His words. Though Jesus was not a Levite, He was indeed a priest. He officiated in higher ordinances, forgave sins, and did all the things priests had basically ceased to do. His frustration as He cleansed the temple can easily be understood when we realize that He had been performing the blessings and ordinances that should have been going on there.

The Apostle Paul also saw a direct correlation between the power of Jesus and His priesthood authority:

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by means of his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:11–14 NIV)

After the feeding of the five thousand, the crowd tried to con Him into providing daily manna as a proof of His divinity. Jesus not only saw through that ruse, but testified of His higher status, not as a teacher of truth, but as the very source of truth.

Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. (John 6:26–28 NIV)

Jesus said to them, Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Sir, they said, always give us this bread.

Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:32–35 NIV)

THE ANOINTED MESSIAH

And this leads us to the last role, that of the Anointed One, the Christ, the Promised Messiah. This is the category that separates Jesus from every other itinerant rabbi, great teacher, famed healer, or even miracle worker. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. As His ministry progressed, He became more outspoken about this role and about being God’s divine Son.

For the Jews, whether or not Jesus was the Messiah that was prophesied of was a matter of debate. But Jesus left no question that He saw Himself as that Anointed One. In the last week of His life, He rode into Jerusalem in a direct simulation of a Roman king’s triumphal entry; it seems that He was determined to force this comparison. He embodied the triumvirate of prophet, priest, and king, and He knew it. But He was more than that: He was the divine Son of God. He openly said, My kingdom is not of this world. He was a king, of a divine kingdom.

In the third century, Eusebius spoke of the power of Jesus’s anointing.

That his anointing was divine is proved by the fact that he alone, of all who have ever lived, is known throughout the world as Christ and … is honored by his worshipers throughout the world as King, held in greater awe than a prophet, and glorified as the true and only High Priest of God.[6]

Evangelist Billy Graham saw Jesus as the culmination of all the history of Israel. Without Jesus’s role as the divinely anointed Messiah, the Old Testament doesn’t make sense.

The prophecies about the Messiah were not a bunch of scattered predictions randomly placed throughout the Old Testament, but they form a unified promise-plan of God, where each promise is interrelated and connected into a grand series comprising one continuous plan of God. Thus, a unity builds as the story of God’s call on Israel, and then on the house of David, progresses in each part of the Old Testament.[7]

GETTING TO KNOW THE REAL JESUS

We can read of many different reactions to Jesus. The common people obviously reacted to the benefits of His miracles. Along with their adulation, we have the venomous statements of leaders who were threatened by Jesus, and even the rather offhand remarks of the Roman rulers who wondered why they were so threatened. We have spontaneous testimonies from those who experienced miracles, and the heartfelt testimonies of the Apostles. For me, one of the most convincing things about the New Testament is the number of negative remarks about Jesus that are recorded there right along with the positive. There is no spin, no attempt at making Him anything other than what He is. It’s breathtaking.

Along with a study of His cultural context, His sayings, and His actions, we have another means of knowing Christ that is unique. We can ask His Father about Him. Christ is different from any other being who lived, because He was both divine and human. This means, simply, that we can communicate with God through the medium of the Holy Spirit and ask about Him. He instructs us to ask His Father to help us know Him.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is?

They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am?

Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Jesus replied, Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. (Matthew 16:13–17 NIV)

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In Christ, we see a maturity of love that flowers in self-sacrifice and forgiveness; a maturity of power that never swerves from the ideal of service; a maturity of goodness that overcomes every temptation, and, of course, we see the ultimate victory of life over death itself.

—Vincent Nichols

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We have a special conduit of knowledge to which we may turn; Heavenly Father will teach us about Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. He promises us that, when we ask ourselves, What would Jesus do? God, through His Spirit, will reveal Christ to us. Joseph Smith relied upon this gift as he carved out a new theology and taught startling new insights about the role of Jesus Christ:

I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages…. I thank God that I have got this old book; but I thank him more for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have got the oldest book in the world; but I have got the oldest book in my heart, even the gift of the Holy Ghost. [The Holy Ghost] is within me, and comprehends more than all the world; and I will associate myself with him.[8]

With the Holy Spirit as our guide, let’s take a fresh look at the New Testament and try to edge a little closer to knowing the real Jesus. As we do, let’s see if we can also find ourselves in these stories, and perhaps gain more understanding about what He would have us do to be worthy followers of Him.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is meant as a springboard to help you think about Jesus. We will look at the way the New Testament text was made, because it is brilliant. We will look at the cultural context, because it is important, and we will try to make some connections between our modern, daily dilemmas and the teachings of Jesus. We won’t cover every verse or even every book, but hopefully we will touch on some things that will inspire you and enrich your study of the Savior.

You may have already noticed I like to reference various translations of the Bible. Although we in the Latter-day Saint community recognize the King James Version of the Bible as the most correct translation available, I find that some passages are so familiar that my mind tends to wander as I read. Using different translations keeps the language fresh and my mind awake to the message behind the words. When I have quoted directly from the Bible, you will notice in the source that follows a KJV for the King James Version or an NIV for the New International Version.

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Roy Blizzard and David Bivin, Study Shows Jesus as Rabbi, Bible Scholars, accessed August 24, 2018, http://www.biblescholars.org/2013/05/study-shows-jesus-as-rabbi.html.

[return]

Ibid.

[return]

David Bivin, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context (Holland, Michigan: En-Gedi Resource Center, 2005), 9.

[return]

Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi (New York: Harper Collins, 2014).

[return]

Shaye I. D. Cohen in What Can We Really Know about Jesus?: Evaluating the Fragmentary Evidence, PBS, April 1998, accessed September 10, 2018, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/reallyknow.html.

[return]

Eusebius. Eusebius: The Church History, trans. Paul L. Maier (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2007), 30.

[return]

Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Promise of the Messiah, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, November 22, 2006, https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/november-2006/the-promise-of-the-messiah.

[return]

Joseph Smith, The King Follett Sermon. Ensign, April 1971.

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Chapter Two

THE NATIVITY: WHERE THE ATONEMENT BEGINS

The Gospels are not biographies, nor are they histories by our modern definition; they are testaments. The purpose of each of the Gospels is (paraphrasing Luke) to take those things that had been written and spoken by the actual witnesses of Jesus’s ministry and pass them along to those who love God’s word (one meaning of the word Theophilus[1]) that we [might] know the certainty of those things, wherein [we have] been instructed (Luke 1:1–4 KJV).

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Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.

—G. K. Chesterton

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As a result, we can expect that the stories of Jesus will be presented to us in a deliberate fashion. Each of the Gospels is carefully structured, reflecting the unique perspective of the author. We must shake off the expectation that the accounts will be just alike, but instead expect them to be as different as the authors themselves and appreciate the added depth and breadth they give to our understanding of Christ’s mission. This is a good foundation with which to begin an examination of the birth narratives.

MATTHEW: THE NEW MOSES AND THE NEW LAW

Matthew’s birth narrative emphasizes the similarities between Christ and Moses, which is a fitting preface to a Gospel that focuses on Christ as the new Moses, the giver of the higher law. Defending Christ’s messianic role in a Pharisaic community, Matthew opens with a genealogy that links Jesus to the Davidic line of kings. In addition, the genealogy gives him an opportunity to address the issue of Jesus’s lowly birth and even suspicions about His paternity that would have been part of His upbringing.

Though today we revere Mary as a paragon of womanly virtue, this would not have been her experience in daily life. It was not uncommon for betrothed young women to be raped by Roman soldiers, since it was known that their families would protect their reputations by going ahead with the marriage. (Thus sparing the soldier any embarrassing consequences.) Mary became pregnant before she was married, and her claim of a divine father for her son would have been met by more than skepticism. In the eyes of her neighbors, this otherwise virtuous young girl would either have had relations with Joseph, or she might have been a victim of rape. Though Joseph stepped forward and married her, protecting her reputation, people would still have talked, and the taint of scandal would have followed her all through her life.

One second-century tradition cast Mary as a hairdresser who had an affair with a Roman soldier by the name of Panthe; another imagined her as a prostitute; while a medieval legend suggested that she had been raped. What all these traditions have in common is their stress on Jesus’s illegitimacy.[2]

Matthew responds to these scurrilous accusations by stressing the virtue of Mary and the trust Joseph had in her. In addition, in the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew introduces four women: Tamar (1:3), Rahab (1:5), Ruth (1:5), and Bathsheba (simply called Uriah’s wife, 1:6 NIV). Why include these four women among the list of Jesus’s ancestors? Scholar Luke Timothy Johnson explains:

The genealogy helps Matthew deal with Jesus’ suspect parentage. All were outsiders to Israel; all were sexually suspect; and through all of them God had worked surprisingly for the salvation of the people. They prepare for the birth of a messiah by the virgin Mary.[3]

The first two chapters of Matthew leave us with a sense of the royal lineage of Jesus whose destiny, like that of Moses, is hidden at first. Born in obscurity, each rises to be God’s mouthpiece on earth.

LUKE: THE MARGINALIZED AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

Luke, the Greek chronicler, emphasizes the miraculous virgin birth, so similar in many ways to the Greek