It is certainly not uncommon to hear brethren refer to a particular Gospel preacher as “my preacher”. We all have preachers who stand out in our minds as special for one reason or another. Sometimes it is a particular style, attitude or pulpit presence that attracts to us to a certain preacher. I, too, have a favorite preacher! There has never been a preacher to ever mount a pulpit that even remotely compares to “my preacher”. Of course the One to Whom I refer is none other than Jesus. Let me share a few reasons why He is “head and shoulders” above the rest.
Firstly, Jesus preached with authority. At the conclusion of His masterful Sermon on the Mount, those who heard Him, “…were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28b-29). Jesus preached with the authority of heaven itself (cf. John 7:16; 8:28; 12:48-50). He did not preach opinions, suggestions or “think so’s”, but rather the words that He preached meant the difference between life and death (cf. John 6:63).
Secondly, Jesus preached with urgency. Jesus spent His days preaching the urgent message from heaven (cf. Luke 4:16-19; Matthew 4:17). He preached to His men (Matthew 16:21); He preached to the multitudes (Matthew 5-7); He preached to the minuscule (Luke 19); He preached to the malefactors (Luke 23:39-43). Jesus understood the urgency of preaching (John 9:4).
Thirdly, Jesus preached passionately. The mistaken “picture” many draw of Jesus as a tender man with long flowing hair, holding a baby lamb in His arms is a figment of man’s imagination and not a portrait of the biblical Christ! While Jesus was certainly meek and gentle (Matthew 11:28-30), His preaching was filled with passion. He was not a soft-spoken pacifist! Consider the fact that He “cried in the temple as He taught” (John 7:28; cf. 12:44). The idea of “cried” here literally means to cry aloud, cry out, speak with a loud voice” (Thayer 358). Jesus stood and cried as He extended the invitation (John 7:37). When He witnessed sin in His Father’s house, he passionately and readily dealt with it (John 2:15). He rebuked Peter to the face (Mark 8:33), as well as publically denounced the false teachers of His day (Matthew 23). Passion and zeal characterized His ministry (John 2:17).
Jesus was the Master Preacher! May I exhort each one to read after Him, to study His Sermons, to follow in His footsteps and one day to enter the Great Throne Room of Heaven to spend eternity with Him. Truly, “…Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46b)!
Works Cited
Thayer, Joseph H. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007.
