The Words of Jesus

For some reason, non-Christians often differentiate between what Jesus is recorded as saying and what the rest of the Bible says. You will hear things like “Jesus never spoke out against ….” The implication is that the writers of the rest of the Bible made up teachings that never were endorsed by Jesus and therefore we cannot put stock in them. Only what Jesus taught is important.

Let’s examine this way of thinking for it contains many flaws. First, the only way we know what Jesus said, is what those other authors wrote down for us! Jesus did not publish a book of His teachings before He died. He wrote nothing. All his teachings are found in the Gospels and Epistles of the NT. If you really believe those men later wrote things Jesus never taught or said then why should you believe what they quoted Jesus as saying? If their own teachings were at odds with Jesus’, then why didn’t they misquote Jesus to support their own ideas?

You can’t pick and choose what parts of the Bible to accept. Based on what criteria? What you like? Jesus taught many things to His disciples that were not written down at least in quotations from Him. When the NT writers wrote, they wrote what Jesus taught them and what the Holy Spirit brought to mind. Jesus often explained things more thoroughly in private with His disciples than He did in public. Most of the 3 years He spent in ministry were directed at the disciples and particularly the Apostles. He was training the trainers as we like to say. He knew His earthly ministry would be short so He invested His time in His disciples. Their teachings are Jesus’ teachings. They claimed themselves that they only wrote what Jesus taught them as guided by the Holy Spirit. If you reject what the disciples wrote then you have no reason to believe their accounts of what Jesus said.

Years ago there was an attempt by a group of scholars to determine what sayings attributed to Jesus were really his. They rated each saying by a color. One color meant they were very confident He said it. Another meant he probably said it but they weren’t as sure. The final color meant they didn’t believe He said it. As I recall, only about 30% of Jesus’ words were given the confident vote.

How did they decide? First, they automatically rejected any saying of Jesus that involved a miracle. They simply rejected that miracles could happen therefore Jesus could not have said those things. Talk about a bias! That doesn’t even allow for the possibility that Jesus believed a miracle happened but was self-deluded. They just tossed an entire category of His words out due to their bias. They also threw out anything He said claiming to be God. The whole thing was a farce. They wanted to create a benign Jesus who had no power and was not divine. They wanted to reduce him to a good moral teacher but who taught nothing controversial and made no claims to divinity. So they only recognized those sayings of His they wanted.

Too many liberal scholars try to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe in. It all comes down to what they want it to say, not what it actually says. You can’t do that. You either believe it all or believe none of it. If Jesus is God, then His every word ought to be believed. That includes His words as recorded and taught by his disciples. Do you think Jesus would invest everything in these disciples only to return to heaven and watch them change half His words?

I have heard people reject teachings of the Old Testament not repeated expressly in the New Testament. We do know there were certain teachings just for Israel that don’t apply today like their ceremonial laws. While we rightly call Jesus the “Son of God”, He is fully God as much as God the Father is or the Holy Spirit is. God told the Israelites that He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” Jesus is the God of the Old Testament. He did not need to expressly repeat everything taught in the Old Testament for it to still apply. When people try to differentiate between what “Jesus said” and what the rest of Scripture says, they are creating a false dichotomy. ALL of Scripture is from God and Jesus is God.

“for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2nd Peter 1:21, NASB)

With more context, Peter wrote this:

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”^{[b] 18} We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

¹⁹ We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰ Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2nd Peter 1:16-21)

Peter is claiming that his words, their words, and the OT prophet’s words were “from God as they were carried along with the Holy Spirit.” They were not “cleverly devised stories.” He further states that they were “eyewitnesses.” The Gospel of Mark was written by a travelling companion of Peter. We believe he compiled and wrote what Peter told him. Peter was an eyewitness.

Another of the Gospel writers was Luke. Luke was a physician and a frequent travelling companion of the Apostle Paul. Note the very first verses of Luke’s Gospel:

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. ³ With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1-4, NASB)

Luke is writing an account of the life and teachings of Jesus to send to a man named Theophilus. Notice in verse two he states that the account of these things were “handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses.” He further states that he “carefully investigated” everything. Luke was not making up stories. He was writing down eyewitness testimony as directed by the Holy Spirit. The other two Gospels, Matthew and John, were written by Apostles. We find a complete harmony of these four Gospels despite being written at different times in different places in an age where printing presses did not exist and we don’t even know if they had access to each other’s writings. They had no chance to collaborate and make sure they got their stories straight. Their agreement proves they were all hearing the same testimony from eyewitnesses or were eyewitnesses. Some, like John, Peter, and Luke, went on to write other NT books. These were men who risked their lives to follow Jesus with no hope of profit or gain except spiritual profit. Why would they not faithfully teach all that Jesus taught them?

The Apostle John wrote:

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25, NASB)

The NT is not meant to contain every teaching and detail of Jesus’ life. We were left with what was essential for us to know God, have a personal relationship with Him, and be saved from our sins. We don’t know if Jesus repeated other OT teachings or not but the assumption would be that we should assume they still hold unless we are told otherwise. It is not necessary for Jesus to have repeated something from the OT for it to still be true.

What is especially ridiculous, is that people who make these arguments, generally do not believe in Jesus or His teachings. Many haven’t even read the Bible. Yet they are trying to tell us (Christians) that unless Jesus explicitly said something, recorded for us, it doesn’t count. What do they know? I think their motives betray their method. They are looking for excuses to reject clear teachings of Scripture by saying “Jesus never said that.” Jesus “said” everything in the entire Bible because it is ALL the Word of God and Jesus is God!