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1)   The Beauty Of His Distinguishing Between The Truth Of God And The Message Of God

The preacher wrote: “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath no pleasure in fools” (Eccles. 5:4).  Infinite was the pledge the Lord made to God when He said: “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:9).  In the previous verses he had given God’s commentary on the sacrifices of the Old Testament: “Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not”, the reason being they gave Him no pleasure (Heb. 10:5-6, 8).  The reason they were unsatisfactory to God was because they never could make the “comers thereunto perfect” or “take away sin” (Heb. 10:4)The task before the Lord was monumental, and knowing  this, He gave God His vow: “I come to do thy will”.  That will was the taking away of the Mosaic sacrificial system and establishing the foundation for the full manifestation of grace.  Prior to that fulfillment at Calvary, He had to fulfill the will of God throughout His earthly pilgrimage.

The depths of this are unfathomable, for this refers to the Lord at His incarnation and conveys the truth of His willing servanthood so that He could have said: “Truly I am thy servant” (Psa. 116:16)  The body prepared by God was not given back to God as a living sacrifice.  No matter how humiliating the situation, severe the pain or the satanic opposition, He will be true to His vow.

The other sacrifices knew nothing of a willing heart, they were brought to the place of slaughter unaware of that which lay ahead, but Christ the Son, came into this world with a willing heart knowing that which lay before Him.

The hymn writer wrote: “And from that track, He turned not back”.
Isaiah wrote: “He set His face as a flint”.

3)   The Beauty Of The Reason For His Teaching

Psa. 71:17-18.  O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.  Now also when I am old and gray headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

4)   The Beauty Of The Clarity Of His Teaching

The Lord taught truths easily understood by using word pictures, parables.  Knowing His subjects perfectly, He was able to expound them clearly.  His teaching was with authority and conviction.  He preached and taught not just with head knowledge, but with heart appreciation, believing that which He taught.  In His teaching there was never a questioning of fidelity or uncertainty.

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The lawyer had asked the Lord a question: “Who is my neighbour?”  While many may forget the question that prompted the answer from the Lord, none could forget the parable of the good Samaritan (Lk. 10:30-35).  The Lord brilliantly returned the question to the lawyer: “which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour into him that fell among the thieves?” (Lk. 10:36).  The story was abundantly clear, no elaborating, just a simple story that none could fail to see the lesson being taught.

b)

On another day a question was asked of the Lord and His response was a triad of parables.
i)        The first was about a woman who lost a coin and with what diligence she sought for it.
ii)       That parable was followed by a shepherd who had one hundred sheep and one got lost. The shepherd did not neglect it because it had wandered, but went and sought it until he found it.
iii)     Another parable about a son who left home and came back a broken man.  No one had sought after him.  One can visualize the house, each night at meal time there was an empty chair, there was no going after this wanderer, he was treated as nothing by the brother.  When he did return, the Father welcomed Him but the brother, a self righteous brother, was angry.

How stark the two pronged lessons were, yet how many could tell the incident that led to this series of parables?

All the parables tell a story and contain a lesson a child could understand.  At times the Lord incorporated parables together, one into another (Mk. 13:33-37; Matt. 24:45-51) and because of this, it is difficult to give an exact number of parables.  However, at the end of this paper there is a list of parables for consideration.

5)   The Beauty Of The Graciousness Of His Speech

Since this paper is dealing with the moral beauty of the Lord, how does that fit in here?  Perusing the scriptures we learn that graciousness of speech comes from a pure heart: “He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend” (Prov. 22:11).  Such a person will follow the example of the preacher: “The preacher sought to find out acceptable words” (Eccles. 12:10) and such a one will know what is acceptable: “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable” (Prov. 10:32).  Add to this, the words the Lord spoke were given Him by the Father (Jn. 8:38; 12:49-50).  Consequently, others could say: “Never man spake like this man” (Jn. 7:46).  His words had to be gracious for He spoke the words of the “God of all grace” (1 Pet. 5:10).  We are reminded by the Lord that out of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matt. 12:34; Lk. 6:45) therefore, for words of grace to come from the lips of the Lord meant that His heart was filled with grace. ⃰

Sadly, there were those who vehemently opposed His teaching.  These were words of grace which would liberate those who were bound by the tradition of the elders.  The religious hierarchy did not like that.  If they believed the message of the Lord these men would lose their power over the people.

They “wondered at the gracious words that proceedeth out of His mouth” (Lk. 4:22).  They proceeded out of His mouth, as it were coming in a steady stream giving words of grace to those in need.  From the illustration the Lord applies to Himself in v. 23, “physician”, He is seen in tenderness communing with truth and tenderness to those who are damaged in body and by sin.  There is no other physician who can heal the sin sick soul and can speak words of comfort to aching hearts.  He is accurate in His diagnosis and tender hearted in His disposition.  What a stark difference from the cold words of the law that the Pharisees, etc., would teach.  He felt for the people.  It was love which caused Him to come into this world to deliver them.  Hard cold reiteration of facts of the law would not liberate them but only enslave them further.

 ⃰  What a difference it would make between saints if they spoke with grace (Col. 4:6).  Many of the conflicts would never have occurred.  Brethren not speaking as long as life lasted would never have happened, words of ridicule, belittling, backbiting and gossip would never have been spoken.  The problem is that the saints are happy to sing about grace, talk about grace and in a very limited way know the blessedness of grace, but they have a heart saturated with the law of sin and little grace.  Very sad!

6)   The Beauty Of His Responses To Hurtful Statements

7)  The Beauty Of The Profoundness Of His Teaching

With the Lord abundantly fulfilling every necessity, there was a depth to His teaching, yet with perfect simplicity, that is incomparable.  He taught:

8)   The Beauty Of The Sovereign Authority In His Teaching

It is always wonderful to hear someone speak with humble authority.  Many can speak with authority and mistake yelling and pounding a platform for power.  It does not work.  Some speak with imagined authority based on that which is not factual, i.e; The big bang, life on other planets.  Others speak with authority and knowing they are good, have a belittling attitude toward others.  These were never found in Christ.  When He repeatedly said: “But I say unto you” fifteen times over, there was no pride but sovereign authority.  He quotes the God given law saying: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill. . . But I say unto you” (Matt. 5:22).  He takes the illustration of the cities which reject his message and says: “But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city” (Lk. 10:12).

Of course, it is not to be wondered at that He speaks with such authority, for He is the “I AM”, and as such is the:

When these are considered, it is not to be wondered that it is said: “He taught them as One having authority and not as the scribes” (Matt. 7:29; Mk. 1:22) and, “Never man spake like this man” (Jn. 7:46).

9)   The Beauty Of The Fidelity Of His Teaching

The word “verily” is recorded in seventy-eight verses.  In 53 verses it is singular and in 25 verses it is doubled.  It comes from the Hebrew word translated, “Amen” and it indicates to be in full agreement with that which is pronounced, as in Num. 5:22 and 1 Kgs 1:36.  Jeremiah, by additions, explains the word more clearly, “So be it” (Jer. 11:5) and “Amen, the Lord so do” (Jer. 28:6).  While it indicates truthfulness, it also carried the concepts of full agreement with that which is being said.  Added to this is the fact that the Hebrew word has as its root a word, which indicates “faithful” 20 times; believe 44 times and establish 7 times.  Putting these together, when the Lord said: “Verily I say unto you”, He was speaking words which were to be believed, that man should come into agreement with and which are faithful.  With these thoughts in mind, we listen to the fidelity of His teaching when He says:

10)  The Beauty Of His Openness When Teaching

The Throne in Heaven has seven lamps of fire burning before it.  The message is clear, the Throne Sitter demands that everything is done in the light and everything must be above board.  When our Lord ministered, either in preaching the gospel or teaching His own, there was never the slightest tint of anything done in a clandestine way.  When before the High priest, Christ was asked of His doctrine and disciples.  Answering, He made no reference to the disciples only to His doctrine, and placed all His “defense” on them that heard Him.  He said: “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.  Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said” (Jn. 18:19-21).  Apart from the upper room ministry in John 13-17, there are seldom other times when the Lord was not speaking in an open area.

11)  The Beauty Of The Accuracy Of His Teaching

In all his teachings there was never an indication of belittlement or someone being told, either in word or facial expression, that their question was “stupid” or of no consequence.  There was no holding back of truth so that man would misunderstand what was being said.  He knew nothing of pride in the depth of His teaching.

This beauty of Christ is of utmost importance because we are all teachers.  Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, school teachers and spiritual leaders in the church all teach.  Sadly, too often we simply follow how we have been taught, and in todays world, it is non effective.  To be a teacher one must live what they teach and consider the level of the child.  I recall my father, who was a wonderful teacher, gathered us children around he and mum every morning for a bible lesson and prayer.  They were living examples to us children. 

I am sure the majority of us have sat in a meeting and shifted the seat to see the speaker more clearly.  Of course the speaker also needs to see his audience clearly in order to perceive their interest.   Furthermore, if the people cannot hear, they will quickly lose interest.  The Lord was wise in understanding these facts as was seen one day when standing on the shore.  Being surrounded by people, he was aware they would have difficulty hearing him ⃰ as the sound of His voice would not have travelled far.  Stepping into a boat, the Lord tells Peter to push out a little from the shore.  This was ideal for sound travels across the water much clearer and further than on land.  Even though the Lord was separated from the people, they could hear His voice clearly (Lk. 5:1-3).
 ⃰He did not need to see His audience to read them, He knew their hearts.

13)  The Beauty Of His Proclamations In His Tone Of Voice

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 Different words are used to describe the Lord’s tone of voice:

He cried (anaboao) and (boao):
1.      This and “boao” are both used when our Lord cried: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34).  “boao” means: “to give a loud cry, to speak
        with a strong voice, as the loudness of a cry when one cries out for help”^[6].  The Lord speaks of those who are in deep persecution and “boao” to God (Lk. 18:7), and again
        when the blind man heard that Jesus was passing by he “boao”, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me” (Lk. 18:38).  There is an intensity of unmistaken earnestness
        in “boao”.  “Anaboao” is “boao” intensified having “ana” as a prefix.  It is translated, “every man” (Matt. 20:9), “apiece” (Jn. 2:6).  These would indicate individuality.
        My understanding is that when the Lord cried this cry it was a loud cry of earnestness that only He could truly utter.
 ⃰  W.E. Vine. An expository dictionary of New Testament Words.

2.      In the cries of the cross indicating afflictions that can never be told, we learn the loveliness of His person for: “when He suffered, He threatened not” (1 Pet. 2:23).   He was
         the ultimate cheerful giver, a characteristic God loves and he did it all in fulness of grace.

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What a change there would be in the fellowship of saints if they, in their proclaimations and speaking, had the character of Christ.