Bible study: The Character of Jesus

Bible study: The Character of Jesus


Posted on February 11, 2021

Babatope Babalobi: + 2348035897435 babalobi@yahoo.com

https://t.me/Babalobi

Spiritual life

As a Preacher

  1. He started preaching at age 12. He loved the Church, He loved to be in the house of the Lord than anywhere else. At age 12, he forsook his parents for listen and teach in Jerusalem. Luke 2 vs 41-52
  2. He preached with power and authority. His word was with power. -Luke 4 vs 32;36
  3. Jesus was a tough preacher, spoke with power and authority, fearless and courage. He derided the hypocrisy and iniquity of the Pharisees calling them Serpents and Vipers-Matthew 23 vs 33
  4. He was a miracle worker, He healed the sick, delivered the demonised from devils, raised the death, stilled the storm, turned water to wine, broke natural and gravitas tional laws, and created plenty from few.
  5. He was a Church preacher. He preached in the synagogues of Galilee- Luke 4 vs 44
  6. He primary message was repentance from sin- Mathew 4 vs 17
  7. Jesus did not preach primarily financial prosperity neither did he condemned prosperity; but warned that the desire to be rich may lead to covetousness (Luke 12 vs 15), and wealth may lead to idolatry
  8. He preached against commercialisation of the gospel Matthew 10 vs 8
  9. The themes of this messages are:
  10. Repentance (Luke 13vs 5)
  11. Salvation; healing
  12. Deliverance; humility; faith; divine provision (Luke 12 vs 22
  13. holiness; wisdom; righteousness; grace; and peace. ( Luke 12 vs 22)
  14. Refrain from Anger- Mathew 5 vs 22
  15. Forgive those that offend you- Mathew 5 vs 24
  16. Do not commit lust or Adultery- Mathew 5 vs 28
  17. Preached against divorce- Mark 10 vs 12
  18. Love thy neighbour- Mark 12 vs 33
  19. Humility- Mark 12 vs 38

Praying and Fasting

  1. He was prayer addict, created time regularly to pray alone despite his busy schedule- Luke 5 vs 16
  2. He prayed in unusual and lonely places for concentration. This includes mountains and wilderness- Luke 6 vs 12
  3. He often prayed all night – Luke 6 vs 12
  4. He severally stressed the necessity of praying always and in all seasons- Luke 18 vs 1
  5. He often prayed earnestly such that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground- Luke 22 vs 44
  6. He believed in fasting., at one point fasted for 30 days without eating and drinking in the wilderness- Luke 4 vs 2
  7. Jesus emphasised prayer and fasting but he also counselled that physical vigilance should not be downplayed in order to overcome temptations and evils- Matthew 26 vs41
  8. He was always fasting but also eating food. Jesus favourite food was bread (Luke 22 vs 19; his favourite protein was meat or fish(Luke 24 vs 42); and his favourite drink was water and non-alcoholic wine or fruit drink (Luke 22 vs 18)

Child of God

  1. He was baptised by River Jordan  at age 30; in the process subjected himself to all righteousness. Luke 3 vs 21-23
  2. Angels ministered to him before birth, while in the womb (Matthew 1 vs 20), as a baby (Matthew 1 vs 24; 2 vs 13;19), as an adult(Mark 1 vs 13), and even in the grave (Matthew 28 vs 2).
  3. Jesus was always thankful to God and emphasised the need for thanksgiving questioning why only one leper out of the 10 healed returned to give thanks to God- Luke 17 vs 17
  4. He attended church services. The Bible records that he went to the synagogue in Nazareth on a sabbath day as it was the custom and read the Bible lesson from the book of Isaiah.  Luke 4 vs 16. He also went to Capernaum in Galilee and taught them on a Sabbath day. Luke 4 vs 31.
  5. He loved the presence of God and taught daily in the temple- Luke 19 vs 47
  6. He did not harbour malice. He accommodated and ate the Passover with Judas though he knew he will betray him (Luke 22 vs 21). He interceded for the forgiveness of those who crucified him – Luke 23 vs 34
  7. He was spiritually violent and exhibited holy madness of things of the spirit. He made a scourge of small cords and drove out traders as well as money changers from the temple – Luke 2 vs 14
  8. Jesus was humility. He refused to be described as a good man in spite of his good works, saying only God is good.  He rejected the adulation and honour of men, and gave all glory to God – Luke 18 vs 19

Teacher

  • He was a teacher of the word and kingdom of God always fishing for men and women. Luke 5 vs 1-11
  • He respected the Mosaic priesthood and laws, which he came to fulfil. He taught people to respect same without compromising mercy, love, justice, and holiness – Mathew 5 vs 17; Luke 5 vs 14

Deliverer

  • He has authority of  over demons, and casted them out – Mark 5
  • Demons know him and bow at His name- Mark 5
  • He never argued with demons, he simply rebuked them -Mark 1 vs 25

Academic life

  • Jesus was an avid reader. He never went to a formal school, yet the Jews marvelled that he was much learned. The explanation is that he spent time to read and learn on his own – Luke 7 vs 15
  • He is very familiar with scriptures, and quoted it correctly. He knows appropriate scriptures for each situation. He defeated the temptation of the devil with the word of God- Luke 4 vs 1-13
  • He was always speaking by parables, using it to explain his narratives- Luke 8 vs 4. His famous parables include Parable of the Sower, Fig tree, foolish virgins,

Organisational life

  • Jesus preached perfection and excellency- Mathew 5 vs 48
  • He was an early riser, always waking up early to pray- Mathew 1 vs 35
  • He was a team leader, never walked alone. He had close associates out of which he choose 12 Apostles- Luke 6 vs 12-16. The Apostles were always with him.
  • He also had a team of 70 evangelists who he sent in twos to preach the gospel- Luke 10 vs 1
  • He spiritually empowered his disciples- Luke 9 vs 1. He not only delegated duties to a team of 12 apostles, and 70 evangelists, but also gave them spiritual power to execute the assignments. -Luke 10 vs 19. He also spiritually empowered anyone that believes in his name (John 1 vs 12)
  • He sent out his disciples in twos, not in ones- Mathew 6 vs 7
  • He confided in his disciples and told them stories- Mark 10 vs 32
  • Jesus was not a workaholic. He takes time to rest. He sleeps to regain his energy. He was found sleeping sound even in the stormy wind and water was raging on the lake, and the ship was filled with water Luke 8 vs 22-23
  • Jesus led a disciplined, spartan  and regimented lifestyle. During the day he reached in the temples, at nights he climbed to the mountain -at times Mount Olives to pray. This was his daily routine.-Luke 21 vs 37
  • He related with his disciples as colleagues, he was not aloof. He ate breakfasts, uppers, and dinners with them including the Passover – Mark 14 vs 12k/
  • He sang hymns with his disciples – Mark 14 vs 26
  • Jesus is wisdom personified, his speeches were seasoned with parables, and his response to adversaries were apt.- The Pharisees got tired of trying to trap him through his words and left him alone- Luke 20 vs 26
  •  He avoided arrests. He did not want to be arrested and his ministry stopped before his time – Luke 4 vs 41. He hid himself when the Jews wanted to stone him- John 8 vs 59
  • Jesus was not fearful. He was always calm in face of crises. He was fast asleep even when his ship was sleeping on the lake – Lake 8 vs 22-23
  • Jesus encourages prudency and discouraged wastes. He instructed his disciples to gather the left overs after the feeding five thousand with bread and fishes. 12 baskets of barleys were saved in the process- John  6 vs 12
  • Jesus was not a talkative. He was patient in listening and responding to queries. He did not talk in  a hurry. He was a good listener, and picked his response slowly and carefully. He took his time to response when he was asked to judge the *366542
  • The woman caught in the very act of adultery, and when he was accused by false witnesses before his cruxification –  Mark 14 vs 61; John 8 vs7
  • Jesus does not stigmatise or condemn on account of past sins or misdeeds. He refused to condemn the woman caught in the very act of adultery though her accusers wanted to stone her to death- John 8 vs 11
  • He was humble to a fault, washed the feet of his disciples to demonstrate the master should be a servant– John 13 vs 14
  • Jesus never handled money  directly. He delegated this duty to Judas, who unfortunately was stealing the money – John 13 vs 35

Social Life

  • He had friends including a Centurion -Luke 7 vs 2;
  • Joseph had wealthy disciples among which was Joseph of Arimathea who received the body of Jesus from Pilate and buried it in a new tomb-Mathew 27 vs 57
  • He attended dinners ; with a Pharisee- Luke 7 vs 36
  • He fed the hungry- Luke 9 vs 13
  • He was loved and helped by women. He had a devout group of women that followed him and ministered substance to him. These included Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna – Luke 8 vs  2-3; also Mary the sister of Martha- Luke 11 vs 39; Mary the mother of James,Joses, and Salome- Mark 15 vs 40
  • He keep and honoured friendship. His close friends are Martha, who he loved, her sister- Mary, and Lazarus- Luke 11 vs 5. He risked his life to travel to Judea to resurrect Lazarus from the death, even when Jews had planned to stone him to death- John 11 vs 7-8
  • Jesus loved children and wants to be in their company. Luke 18 vs 16
  • He was the friend of sinners. He was not judgemental. He associated with sinners and a good mixer with unbelievers so he could have an opportunity to preach to them.- Luke 5 vs 32
  • Jesus associated with Sinners. He visited Zacchaeus described as Chief Publican, a clubber and drinker. He stressed severally he came to save unbelievers- Luke 19 vs 7. His greatest friends were sinners- Luke 15 vs 2.
  • He socialised. He honoured a wedding invitation and saved the couple from embarrassment when wine was in short supply- John 2 vs 2
  • Jesus had a good taste. He did not celebrate poverty. He went for good things. He asked his disciples to bring a brand new colt  which he rode triumphantly to Jerusalem. Luke 19 vs 30; he ate the Passover with his disciples in a well-furnished large upper room (Luke 22 vs 12)
  • Jesus appreciated nice smelling perfume. did not discouraged Mary from anointing him with a very costly perfume with a strong fragrance.- John 12 vs 3
  • He had a dwelling place though an itinerant preacher. John 1 vs 39.
  • Jesus paid tax- Matthew 17 vs 27

Family life

  • Jesus respected his mother, but did not accord her special recognition deserving of being worshipped or idolised. He says: My mother and brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it;. Luke 8 vs 21; Luke 11 vs 28
  • He was closed to his mother, and she always followed him around. She followed him to the wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2 vs 2);

This entry was posted in Christianity.


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