What was the crowd’s perception of Jesus? Among other things…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, \u201cHow is it that this man has learning when he has never studied?\u201d So Jesus answered them, \u201cMy teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.” (John 7.14 – 16, ESV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a presumption that Jesus had never studied! He hadn\u2019t studied under one of their known teaching rabbis, apparently. That\u2019s an interesting choice by the Father. Jesus may have wanted to study. That\u2019s what the incident at the Temple was about when he was 12. But God preferred that his Son be a layman! I wrote about this before<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, they said the same thing about the apostles in Acts chapter four. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. (Acts 4.13, NLT)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What can we learn here? I don’t want to put down seminaries, but it\u2019s apparent that Jesus himself and his original followers presented themselves as laymen. Only Paul had studied under a rabbi, but that teaching was medium useless. (His exposure to the Old Testament wasn\u2019t useless, but he wouldn\u2019t have learned anything from Gamaliel about Jesus.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The major lesson is that God can and will use any of us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, \u201cI was no prophet, nor a prophet\u2019s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, \u2018Go, prophesy to my people Israel.\u2019 Now therefore hear the word of the LORD…” (Amos 7.14 – 16, ESV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What was the crowd’s perception of Jesus? Among other things… About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, \u201cHow is it that this man has learning when he has never studied?\u201d So Jesus answered them, \u201cMy teaching is not mine, but his who … Continue reading A layman!<\/span>