Jesus Teaches Wisdom

The historical impact of Jesus’ thinking is so pervasive that it is often taken for granted. The record of his life and teaching, the Gospels, have impacted the world so much that they have been translated into 2,527 languages. The second-most-translated book, Don Quixote, has been translated into about 60 languages.

The Bible is the bestselling book of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The second bestselling book of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the Guinness Book of World Records.

In the academic world, scholars keep score by how often an article they write is cited by other scholars. By this sheer secular score, Jesus’ intellectual impact is unprecedented. According to Harvard professor Harvey Cox, “the words [of the Sermon on the Mount] are the most luminous, most quoted, most analyzed, most contested, most influential moral and religious discourse in all of human history. This may sound like an overstatement, but it is not.”

Jesus, as Dallas Willard often says, is a really smart guy. He may be thought of as more than this, but you will never trust somebody if you don’t believe they know what they’re talking about.

One reason this is sometimes missed is the method of Jesus’ teaching: Jesus taught to change lives. In the educational system of our day, we tend to think of teaching as the transfer of information. The teacher pours information into the student like pouring water into an empty jug, and the student is evaluated by one thing only: can he parrot back what the teacher said?

The number one question in any class is (if you’re a teacher, you know this), “Will this be on the final?” We all take notes so we can remember until the final exam.

No one took notes when Jesus taught. Why? Because it is natural to automatically remember what changes our lives. If you were around on 9/11 or when President John Kennedy was assassinated or when Pearl Harbor got attacked, you remember.

I went surfing recently in a lonely section of ocean when a few feet from me a large, dark fin rippled by. It was gone too quickly for me to be sure what it was, but I had a religious experience. I had a little talk with Jesus right there. I effortlessly remembered that moment. I did not have to write it down.

John Ortberg, Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012).