How do we engage with Jesus’ teaching?  It’s a question we’ve been thinking through perhaps a little more directly in our evening services as we’ve been reflecting on Jesus as our glorious King.   It’s fairly straightforward to grasp the idea of authority that comes from someone sitting on a throne.  What they say is not an optional extra.  It’s a command.  This is how Jesus sees his teaching: in the category of ‘command’.   It is utterly consistent throughout the Scriptures.  It might be easy to lose sight of this if we focus exclusively on Jesus in the Gospels, where usually He is ‘veiled in flesh’, and His authority is hidden.  But concealment is not abdication.  And even ‘veiled’ Jesus clearly considers His teaching to be in the category of command.

We are culturally suspicious of, and generally resistant to, authority.  Where this has inadvertently seeped into our thinking about our relationship with Jesus, we need to repent.  Christ is not one to be cynical of, and His teaching is not to be shrugged off at our discretion.  We may need to be very deliberate in regaining this dynamic in our thinking about our discipleship.

Whilst Jesus sees his teaching as non-negotiable, authoritative, and Himself as having the Creator’s mandate to shape who we are in the real circumstances of life, many Christians seem to feel at liberty to remain relatively uninformed about what He actually says.  And even where we are familiar, we don’t necessarily consider ourselves bound.  At a deep level, we seek to retain the right of refusal.  We engage His teaching with an implicit reservation.  ‘How much of this’ we ask ourselves, ‘am I comfortable with putting into practise?’  ‘How much is realistic'?’

The most basic Christian creed is: Jesus is Lord.  It is at foundation the surrendering of the right to self-determination.  Whatever He says we are committed to pursue.  And as we read this passage we realise that this is our duty and our joy.  For our obedience is the articulation of our love. 

Questions:

How much of Jesus’ teaching are you confident you know and understand?  How much, as a group, can you reproduce verbatim? … or as a general sense of what He says?

What do you think is the Spirit’s ministry in the life of the Church?  How do you experience His work in helping you to love Christ and obey His teaching (v.16)? 

Why does Jesus’ anticipate His disciples might feel orphaned (v.18)?  How would this affect their ability to be authentic disciples?  How does Jesus’ ongoing presence, by His Spirit, impact the Church?  Would you say that is the experience at MIE?

What would you say to someone who was confident of their love for Christ, but whose life was not characterised by obedience to Jesus’ teaching in areas such as their relationship with money, or in their sexual behaviour, or their relationship with family, or Church? 

What kind of excuses do we use to avoid having to put Jesus’ teaching into practise?

How can our love for Jesus be cultivated such that it becomes a more compelling motivation for our obedience to Jesus’ commands?  How can we support each other in this?

Why does Jesus – after His resurrection - show Himself to the Church, but not the world?