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Jesus our Example 1

JESUS OUR EXAMPLE - VOLUME 1

About the author

Ian Flanders has recently joined the radio production team

that puts together Serving Today and other Christian

programmes. He has over fifteen years’ experience as

missionary, Bible teacher and pastor.

Ian grew up in southern England, not far from London, in a

Christian context. He heard the gospel regularly, but was

always aware that he had not as yet made a faith

commitment. As he left home to pursue his studies, he

began seriously to question Christian teaching, but as he

did so, through the Christian testimony of new friends, God

graciously made everything crystal clear. Rather than

allowing Ian to drift into a new life in the world, the Lord

gave him new life in Christ through a personal faith in his

death upon the cross.

As a response to the Lord’s incomparable mercy, Ian had a

growing awareness that he should make himself available

to the Lord, to do his bidding. As a result he was led into

full time Christian ministry.

Ian spent seven years in a large city in southern France,

where he was mainly engaged in evangelism and Bible

teaching amongst the immigrant community. During this

period he also had some short stays in North Africa.

Jesus our Example 1 Page 2

Following his marriage, Ian and his wife, Hélène, went to

North West France to oversee a small church planting

work, also for a period of seven years. It was in 2003 that

the family came to England to begin a new ministry in

Christian radio.

Introduction

Jesus said that: “A student is not above his teacher but

everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher”

(Luke 6:40). This reminds us that one way of describing

our relationship to Jesus Christ is that of discipleship.

Even those of us who are now pastors or church leaders

remain disciples of Jesus; this is something that must not

be forgotten.

Being a disciple is similar to the relationship a student has

towards his teacher. A disciple is someone who attaches

himself to a particular teacher in order to acquire

knowledge from him. A disciple commits himself to

follow a particular master in order to learn from him.

However, being a disciple goes beyond the illustration of

the student to teacher relationship. In much of today’s

education a teacher’s role is simply to impart knowledge,

to get across his lessons, hoping that his pupils retain them.

However, the way in which he lives does not really make

too much difference. It can do, but often a pupil will see

his teacher only a few hours a week in the classroom and

will largely ignore how that teacher conducts himself

elsewhere.


However, being a disciple of Jesus is different. It seems

clear that we are not just to learn from Jesus’ spoken

teaching, but we are to take his whole life as an example.

We are to hold Jesus up as a model that we are to imitate in

all things. This is true for every Christian but for those of

us who are involved in church leadership we need to see

Jesus as an example of how to accomplish the ministry

tasks that he has entrusted to us. Jesus did not just tell his

disciples how to serve God, he also showed them how to.

Note in the gospels that Jesus’ closest disciples did not

attend classroom lectures, they went everywhere with him.

When Jesus said: “follow me”, he really meant it. The

disciples accompanied Jesus wherever he went. They were

with Jesus whatever he did. They were able to observe

every aspect of his life and ministry, and Jesus intended

that they learn from all of this.

Now obviously the disciples we read of in the gospels had

a privileged position. Jesus was physically present with

them. They could see and hear him as any other person,

but this is not the case for us. How then can we have this

disciple master relationship with Jesus today?

Remember that before his death, Jesus promised another

counsellor, the Holy Spirit. This promise was repeated just

before he ascended into heaven, and was fulfilled on the

day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon

the church. This reminds us that Jesus is with us in the

person of the Spirit – invisibly, intangibly – but

nevertheless present. The Spirit has often been compared


to the wind. We cannot see the wind but we can see the

effect that it has on various objects: the flapping of flags,

the rustling of leaves and the sting of sand on our faces.

We are not able to see the Spirit of Jesus, but we should be

able to discern his working in our lives as he moulds us

into better disciples.

Jesus is present with us, then, by his Spirit, to help us

become better disciples. Nevertheless we have a

responsibility as well. If Jesus is to be our example today,

then the only place that we can reliably learn of him and

from him is the Bible. To sit at Jesus’ feet today, as

disciples, is to spend time reading of his life and ministry,

most particularly in the gospels, but also to learn of him

from the other writings of the New Testament. It is true

that the Spirit of Jesus does not work in a vacuum; rather,

he speaks to us as we read the Bible, the Word of God. We

must give ourselves time to meditate on Christ as we

follow him in the gospels, and as we consider each event or

word we must ask ourselves: In what way is Jesus an

example to me in this text? How can I apply this example

to my own ministry? How is it relevant to my life? This is

the subject and goal of this booklet, to examine various

aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry and to see how they can

be an example to us in the various roles that God has

entrusted to us.

It would also be fair to add that being a disciple is an

ongoing process. Indeed, it is a lifelong process. Being a

disciple is not like being a student where one day you


finish your studies and receive your certificate or diploma.

As we pursue life’s journey we will never stop learning

from Jesus our example. Even the twelve disciples that

Jesus chose to be apostles, despite their three years of

intensive discipleship training, in the very presence of

Jesus, were far from perfect when the events of the cross

and the resurrection took him from them. However, when

we read the writings of Peter and John towards the end of

their lives, we realise just how far they had come, and just

how much they had learnt from Jesus, their example.

This should be an encouragement, for sometimes our

progress seems slow and barely discernable, but if we are

truly looking to Jesus, our example, then we can be sure

that he is making a difference to our lives. At the same

time we must never be satisfied with the road that we have

already travelled, at least not in the sense that we feel we

have arrived and that we have nothing more to learn.

This reflects something that the Apostle Paul wrote in

Philippians 3:12-14. “Not that I have already been made

perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ

Jesus took hold of me. Brothers I do not consider myself

yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do, forgetting

what is behind, and straining towards what is ahead, I

press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God

has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.”

Chapter 1 Jesus and His Father


This chapter will look at what we can learn from that very

special relationship that Jesus had with God.

The New Testament describes the relationship between

Christ and God, principally in terms of son-ship and

fatherhood. Now it really was something new, unexpected,

and shocking for this to occur, and it was the very nature of

Jesus’ claims about his special relationship with God that

led him to being crucified. Remember though that it was

God himself who first described Jesus as his son. “When

all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too.

And as he was praying, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit

descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice

came from heaven: ‘You are my son, whom I love, with you

I am well pleased’.” (Luke 3:21-22).

This was not the only time that God spoke from heaven,

declaring Jesus to be his son. It is recorded that he also did

so during the transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36).

However, Jesus did not just become the Son of God at his

physical birth, or at some stage of his life. Christ’s son-ship

is eternal, it has always been and it even pre-dates the

creation. This is not easy to explain, but the Bible does

teach that God has always existed as Trinity, that is, there

is only one God, but three distinct persons making up that

one God who reveal themselves as Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit. Some key verses in the first chapter of John’s

gospel might help to get a grasp on this truth. Firstly: “In

the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,


and the Word was God. He was with God in the

beginning” (John 1:1-2). Here we see that God and the

Word are distinct from each other as persons who have

existed eternally but are also both described as the one

God. Now read verse fourteen of the same chapter: “The

Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We

have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who

came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” So then,

the Word that existed alongside God, as God, became a

man, and in the context of John’s gospel this obviously

refers to the person Jesus Christ, who, from now on is

frequently called the Son.

Having established this truth we need to ask what we can

learn from it concerning our own spiritual lives. The first

and most important point is quite staggering and

marvellous. God proclaims that those who believe in his

Son become themselves sons of God. This is truly

astonishing and an immense blessing. This doctrine can of

course be supported from the Bible: “Yet to all who

received him (that is Christ), to those who believed in his

name, he gave the right to become children of God –

children born not of natural descent, nor of human

decision or a husbands will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-

13). Or “you are all sons of God through faith in Christ

Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).

Now obviously our son-ship is not eternal, and we certainly

do not become divine, but what is being said is that through

this blessing that God has given of his abundant grace, we


can enjoy the same sort of relationship with God as Christ

does.

As was mentioned earlier, God loves his Son, and so we

can be sure in the same way of God’s love for us. This

subject would merit a booklet in and of itself but our

current purpose is to study Jesus as our example so we

need to look above all at his attitude towards his Father.

Nevertheless, as Christians we would do well to meditate

regularly on the nature of the Father’s love for us, for as we

do so we can but grow in our love for him. The apostle

Paul was so convinced of this necessity that it became an

urgent matter of prayer for the believers under his care. He

wrote to the church at Ephesus “I pray that you, being

rooted and established in love, may have power, together

with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high

and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that

surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the

measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

We would do well to make this prayer our own on a regular

basis.

Returning though to the example of Jesus and his

relationship to the Father. He said some remarkable words:

“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30). This speaks of

both intimacy and complicity. The Father and the Son

were fully cooperating together, working towards that

common purpose, the redemption of multitudes through the

cross. In that context I suggest that Jesus, as Son, was

entirely trusting of his Father, and what is more, perfectly


submissive. I would encourage you to read the gospels for

yourselves and to contemplate the utter confidence that

Jesus had in his Father, even in the face of adversity, and

the complete obedience of Jesus towards the Father, even

in the face of such a heart-wrenching task as delivering

himself up to death on a cross.

If then, we are to follow Jesus as our example, we must

learn this self-same attitude of trust and submission to the

will of the Father. An essential aspect of biblical son-ship

is to give oneself over to accomplish the Father’s purposes:

in our lives, in our ministries, and to do so obediently,

submissively, confidently. This is not always easy; it is a

learning process, sometimes a painful one. I would stress

though that this is the trusting obedience of son-ship and

not the trembling servility of slavery. Slaves are despised,

sons are loved, and that makes a world of difference. Son-

ship involves not only an exercise in learning submission,

but also an exploration of the Father’s love for us, and this

exploration should be liberating, joyful and reassuring.

The apostle John exclaims vibrantly in his first epistle:

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that

we should be called children of God. And that is what we

are!”

Chapter 2 Jesus at prayer

In the previous chapter we saw Jesus’ relationship to his

Father, and that, just as we share, by grace, in this

relationship, so we should also imitate Jesus in his attitudes

of trust and submission towards the Father.


We now move on to the subject of Jesus at prayer and this

follows on very nicely from the last chapter as Jesus’

prayer life sprang very much out of his son-ship. The

nature of his relationship to God, determined how he

prayed. We see an example in Mark 14:36: “’Abba,

Father’, he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this

cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.’”

Now, there is actually a word of Aramaic in that verse –

“Abba”. This would have been the language that Jesus

spoke on an everyday basis. “Abba” is undoubtedly the

word Jesus used to address God when he prayed, and it is

the word that Jewish children tended to use when they

addressed their father. It is an address that denotes at one

and the same time intimacy and respect. It is childlike in

its trust of the Father, it is childlike in its reverence for the

father, but it is certainly not childish in terms of over-

familiarity. This word speaks of Jesus’ special relationship

to the Father.

However, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray in what is

known commonly today as the Lord’s Prayer we also read

that the initial address is this same word – “Father” and I

believe this to be significant. It means that we too can call

God, Abba. We share in that same special relationship of

son-ship, and this relationship should similarly affect how

we pray – that is: intimately, confidently, respectfully, and

submissively. I suggest we find all these things in Jesus’

prayer that I quoted earlier.


There is a great intimacy in this prayer seen by the fact that

Jesus shares his suffering, his hesitation, even his

reluctance to pursue the path of the cross set before him.

He expresses all this to his Father, at this, his moment of

greatest inner turmoil. I believe that we too can approach

God and share with him all that is on our hearts, all that is

painful and every prospect that we find difficult.

Nevertheless we should be careful about what we say to

God and how we approach him. It can be all too easy to

blame him and to revolt against him, often when the

situation we are in is not his fault. However, even when it

does concern something painful that seems to be God’s

will, we must follow Jesus’ example. Jesus does not fall

into this trap of rebelling against God. His words are

honest and intimate, but restrained and respectful. At the

same time he displays a confidence in the all-powerful

sovereignty of God. He says ‘everything is possible for

you’ – and Jesus, more than anybody else, knew this to be

true. He does not though make presumptuous demands

upon God, as some spoilt children would make of their

parents. No, Jesus is respectfully submissive; his highest

priority in prayer is to discover God’s will, and then to find

the strength to accomplish it.

There is a lot then packed into this verse that can be an

example for our own praying. As children of God we can

confidently expect the best of our Father, who loves us. At

the same time we should not see prayer as a means of


abusing or exploiting his goodness, he will not be

bludgeoned into giving us everything that we cry out for.

To pray, as a son, is to discover the priorities, desires and

aspirations of our Father for our lives, and these will not

necessarily correspond to our own expectations and wishes.

That is where our praying needs to be both respectful and

submissive, so that we accept God’s rule and direction. To

sum up, to call upon God’s name, as Abba, is to put oneself

under his protection, but also under his command. In this

Jesus is our example.

As we read the gospels we can also pick up on a number of

other matters where Jesus’ praying can be an example for

us.

We can suppose that Jesus prayed regularly, every day,

probably at sunrise and sunset as many Jews did. It is

important that we, as Jesus, form regular habits of prayer.

Early in the morning and late in the evening are times that

many find to be the best for praying but we are not to be

legalistic about this. Find whatever time best suits you, but

do make it a regular habit. Prayer will be important if we

are to develop and strengthen our relationship with the

Father, if we are to discover his will for our lives and his

ministry and if we are to find the grace to undertake that

will.

However, it is interesting to note that Jesus often went

beyond this regular habit and in certain circumstances

spent considerably more time in prayer. Here are some


examples: “Very early in the morning, while it was still

dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary

place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35). “One of those

days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent

the night praying to God.” (Luke 6:12). These are just two

of many other occasions when Jesus withdrew, to be alone

with God, in order to pray for a lengthy period. Why did

Jesus do this? If we look carefully at the context of these

occasions, a pattern emerges. Jesus practised lengthy,

solitary prayer: Firstly, when his ministry had become

particularly demanding, when he felt the pressure of

overwork. Secondly, at moments of crisis such as

following the death of his cousin John the Baptist. And

thirdly, when important decisions needed to be taken, such

as the choosing of the twelve apostles.

If we are to learn from Jesus’ example, we too should give

more time to prayer when we encounter similar situations.

You have perhaps heard it said that if you are too busy to

pray then you are too busy. It is so easy, when

circumstances become demanding or pressured, to forget

prayer. Equally it is often the case that when we most need

to pray that is when we most neglect it, but if Jesus needed

his Father’s special help at times of crisis and decision,

then surely we need it even more. When we deprive

ourselves of prayer, we deprive ourselves of so much that

God desires to give us.

Finally, something of particular relevance to pastors and

church leaders is that Jesus often prayed for his disciples.


If we are to follow Jesus’ example then we too should pray

for those that God has entrusted into our care. Prayer is not

just about ourselves, that would be selfish, it is also about

ministering to others, by interceding for their special needs,

and for their spiritual growth and well being.

Chapter 3 Jesus and the Devil

This chapter will look at the subject of Jesus and the devil,

and the obvious place to start is by reading the account of

Jesus’ temptation in the desert.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by

the devil. After fasting for forty days and nights he was

hungry. The tempter came to him and said:

“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become

bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live

on bread alone but on every word that comes from the

mouth of God’.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand

on the highest point of the temple.

“If you are the Son of God”, he said, “throw yourself

down. For it is written: ‘ He will command his angels

concerning and they will lift you up in their hands, so that

you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is also written, ‘Do not put the Lord

your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and

showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their

splendour. “All this I will give you” he said “If you will

bow down and worship me.”


Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written

‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:

1-13).

We cannot study this text in detail, but it is important to

retain the big picture.

In previous discussions we have heard about Jesus’ trusting

and submissive son-ship, and I believe the devil wanted to

put these to the test. He wanted to break up that

harmonious relationship that existed between Father and

Son and prevent them from accomplishing their redemptive

purposes for humanity.

If we look carefully at these temptations, the devil is

seeking to taunt, cajole and seduce Jesus into taking an

easy pathway to power, fame and success. However, in

each case this would involve Jesus rejecting the will of the

Father, it would involve an abandonment of trust in the

Father, and active disobedience. Had there been this

rupture between Father and Son, then Jesus would no

longer have been fit to present himself as a sacrifice upon

the cross, he could not have delivered himself up to bear

the sins of others. So this confrontation between the devil

and Jesus had cosmic and eternal implications and we can

be grateful that Jesus came out of it un-compromised.

If Jesus is to be our example, what can we learn from this

titanic struggle?


There is a reminder, first and foremost, that if the devil was

Jesus’ enemy, he is ours also. Thinking particularly of

church leaders or pastors I believe that because of our

responsibilities under God we will be even more in the

firing line than many. Just as the devil tried his utmost to

prevent Jesus from accomplishing his mission, so also he

desires to spoil our relationship with the Father, and

destroy our ministries as Christian leaders.

The Devil will seek to do that, often by using the very

same tactics of temptation. Now not everyone is

vulnerable to the same kinds of temptation as others. Some

might be attracted by illicit relationships, others by

personal power and glory, and others by dishonest gain.

The pastoral ministry can expose us in various subtle ways

to these different temptations. Whatever, the devil will

know where we are vulnerable. He will try to slander God,

just as he did with Adam and Eve, in order to erode our

trust in him, and he will seek to lure and seduce us into

doing things that may look promising and attractive, but

which ultimately could prove to be our downfall. Do

remember that pastors and church leaders are public

figures. If the Devil succeeds in making a scandal of our

lives, the churches in our care will be severely affected and

the gospel and the name of God brought into public

disrepute.

It is interesting to note that the devil came to tempt Jesus

when he had been weakened by forty days of fasting in

hostile desert conditions. There is something we should


learn from this. There are circumstances in life when we

are perhaps more vulnerable to temptation, and the devil

will try to exploit these. It may be the weariness and stress

of overwork. It may be health problems for oneself, or in

the family, or perhaps anxiety brought on by poverty, or

crises in the church. During difficult times our trust in God

is tested and if this should collapse it becomes very easy to

believe the devil and to step onto the slippery downward

slope into serious sin and disobedience. This is an

important warning, and we all need to examine our hearts

to become aware of where we might be vulnerable.

Moving on now, what can we learn from Jesus about how

to overcome the devil’s schemes and temptations?

Firstly, Jesus knew exactly what his Father expected of

him. In his humanity Jesus had learnt this from the Old

Testament scriptures. We too can discover what God

expects of us from the Bible. It is in the Bible that God

reveals how we are to behave and conduct ourselves.

There are no short cuts to this kind of knowledge. We

must diligently read and study the Bible if we are to gain

the kind of knowledge required to identify and resist the

devil’s subtleties.

However, such knowledge is not enough, for Adam and

Eve also knew what God expected of them, but this did not

stop them from capitulating to temptation. Knowledge is

important, but of even greater importance is faith. Jesus

was utterly convinced that his Father’s will was right and


proper, even if it meant great personal pain and sacrifice.

We must exercise similar faith in the face of raging

temptation. We must believe that what God has said

concerning our lives is true and just, and ultimately for our

best, even though treading in Christ’s footsteps may seem

arduous and unappealing beside the Devil’s attractive

propositions. What we need to learn from Jesus is quite

simply how to say ‘yes’ to God, and ‘no’ to the Devil.

On this subject there is a lovely verse in the Bible that will

conclude this chapter - Hebrews 4:16, and it reminds us

that when we are tempted we can turn to Christ who will

fully understand us and come to our assistance: “We do

not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our

weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in

every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then

approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we

may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of

need.”

Chapter 4 Jesus and power

Power. How is it used and abused? How did Jesus

exercise power? And what can we learn from him?

This is an important subject because if we look at the world

around us we can see that so many people who have

positions of responsibility exercise power badly. Those

who have some degree of power over other’s lives can so

easily fall into the temptation of using that power for their

own personal gain, often at the expense of those they


should be helping. They can exploit the weak and

disadvantaged. They can become corrupt, unjust, or open

to bribes. All this is an abuse of power.

All this is so very true to the world in which we live, but it

also concerns those of us who are involved in Christian

ministry, as similar attitudes can sometimes creep into the

church. Certainly we saw in the last chapter that the devil

tempted Jesus in the whole area of the use and misuse of

power. There are temptations concerning the use of power

that can affect those who have the responsibility of leading

churches. As people trust us and look up to us it is so easy

to feel that we are important and to have the desire to

become even more important. It is possible to exploit or

manipulate others for our personal gain, whether that be

financial or in terms of honour and recognition. We have

to be very careful in this area and ask ourselves if we are

more concerned for the well being of the church or for

personal recognition.

So then, how is Jesus an example on this issue?

Jesus was the Christ, the one whom God had anointed and

sent as Saviour and Lord. As such Jesus wielded

considerable power and authority. He had power to heal

and raise the dead. He had power to expel demons. He

had power to multiply the fish and bread. He had power to

calm the storms, and he taught with unprecedented

authority. Despite this, Jesus’ desire was not to become

rich, famous, or successful. Even though he was pressed


by the Devil and by his followers to overthrow by force

Israel’s enemies, he did not, that was not his purpose.

So, to what ends did Jesus use his power, if not to fulfil

selfish ambition?

There are two answers to this question, both of which

should be an example to us. Firstly Jesus desired that his

Father in heaven might be glorified and honoured, and

secondly he sought to serve people in need that he met

around him. To illustrate this whole point I think it would

be good to read an account from the Bible.

The gospels relate an incident in which the mother of

James and John requests of Jesus that he give her sons the

two most prominent positions of leadership in the Kingdom

of God. Now, when the rest of the disciples heard of this

request, they became indignant because they too also

coveted honour and importance. Jesus was not at all happy

with the attitude of any of these disciples – we read his

reply “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over

them and that their high officials exercise authority over

them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become

great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants

to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did

not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a

ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Notice that the disciples were somewhat excited by the

prospect of rising up out of their positions of poverty and


oppression to become those who would exercise power but

Jesus tells them this is not what being a Christian is all

about. We too need to be aware of these temptations and

to examine our motivations. Jesus wants us to be very

different from the world around and warns that greatness in

his Kingdom will not be achieved by imitating the

powerful of this world. Jesus then sets himself up as an

example.

His example is that of servant-hood. Jesus’ goal was not to

get others to pamper to his needs. No, he came in order to

serve, to help, to love, and ultimately to provide for our

eternal redemption upon the cross. We are to model our

own ministries upon this attitude of service whereby we are

concerned with helping and loving others, with building

them up by word and by deed. Jesus reminds us that we

should be disinterested, that is, we do this not for what we

can get out of it for ourselves, but for the glory of God and

the good of the church.

Jesus also mentions that he was to give his life as a ransom

for many. That clearly looks forward to his death on the

cross whereby we were delivered out of our slavery to sin

and all its awful consequences. Now, this underlines just

how disinterested Jesus was. He refused to use the power

at his disposal to save himself but rather gave himself over

to injustice, humiliation, violence and agony. He did all

this in order that a multitude might benefit from the

blessing of reconciliation to God. However, can this dying

for others be in any sense an example for Christians?


It will be very rare that any believer will find himself in a

situation whereby he could literally give his life in order to

save another. It can happen, but not often. Nevertheless

Jesus’ example reminds us of the costliness of a life of

service. It is not an easy or comfortable option. As with

Jesus, there is an element of self-sacrifice and a need to

endure unpleasant attitudes or situations. We are to use

any power that we have, that might come from our position

or from our gifts, not to our own ends but for the good of

those that God has entrusted into our care.

An appropriate conclusion to this chapter would be to read

Paul’s words to the church at Philippi: “Your attitude

should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Who, being in

the very nature God, did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking

the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled

himself and became obedient to death – even death on a

cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8).

Chapter 5 Jesus and violence

We are all living in a violent world and we are all going to

encounter violence in some form or another at some stage

in our ministry. We need to learn from Jesus just how best

to react to such circumstances.

Jesus also lived in a violent world. He lived in a country

that was occupied by an enemy army, and where there was

a certain degree of violent resistance to that enemy. Jesus’


cousin was beheaded at the capricious request of a cruel

queen. Of course, Jesus encountered violence in its most

extreme and brutal forms in the events surrounding his

death. Yet as we read the gospel accounts we see that

Jesus offered no resistance, he just submitted quietly to all

that men were inclined to throw at him. Is this the kind of

example that we should follow?

It could be argued that Jesus going to the cross was a

special case. It was in a sense his choice as much as

men’s. The Bible says that he purposefully delivered

himself over to evil men, and this in order to accomplish

the divine plan of redemption, which involved a sacrifice

for sin upon the cross. Now, I do not think we should use

the events surrounding Jesus’ death to suggest that we

should never take precautions to protect ourselves from the

threat of violence, nor even that we should not seek to

preserve ourselves or our loved ones when violence occurs.

Nevertheless I do believe there are lessons to be learnt.

We could read a little incident that occurred as Jesus was

being arrested: “When Jesus’ followers saw what was

going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with

our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the

high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered,

“No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and

healed him.” (Luke 22:49-51).

A first lesson would be that Jesus does not reply to

violence with violence. The disciples reacted as many of


us would react – they wanted to put up a fight, but this is

not the way of the Kingdom of God. By stopping the

violence and allowing himself to be arrested, Jesus is

actually pursuing a path of lesser evil. Had the disciples

put up a fight, some may have lost their lives or been

injured. They would almost certainly all have been

arrested and could have followed Jesus in being crucified.

So in this situation, Jesus, by allowing himself to become a

victim, actually prevented the violence from spreading and

afflicting others.

There may be cases where Christians could follow a

similar path, but there is a more general lesson that comes

out of this verse, and also from the wider perspective of the

life and teaching of Jesus. This lesson is that a Christian

should do all he can to limit the extent of violence, to

prevent violence from escalating, or to defuse situations

where violence is irrupting. Now, exactly how one will go

about doing this will vary from situation to situation but

certainly to react violently to an explosive state of affairs

will only serve to pour oil on the fire. Things will get out

of hand and more lives may be put at risk.

Suffering as a non-resisting victim of violence will involve

great sacrifice but may be preferable if it safeguards others’

well being and it certainly follows Jesus’ example. Some

would maintain that such an attitude will just encourage the

violent to continue taking advantage of us and abusing us.

There is some truth in this thought but this does not justify

a violent response to violence. Two wrongs do not make a


right as I was often told as a child. Nevertheless an attitude

of non-violence does not imply total passivity. There are

legitimate means by which we can defend ourselves against

those who mean us harm, or who have caused us injury.

We can call upon the police or the courts of justice. If

these are absent, corrupt or prejudiced, as they were against

Jesus, then the situation is more complicated but there will

always be legitimate means of protest, of making one’s

voice heard, without being violent ourselves.

However, Jesus actually went further than practising non-

violence, he also advocated love for one’s enemies and he

practised what he preached. We can see one example,

from the incident we read of earlier. When one of Jesus’

disciples chopped an ear off a person in the arresting party,

Jesus actually healed that man, entirely restoring his ear.

Can you just let that sink in! Jesus was undergoing

forceful arrest by a hostile, aggressive mob, intent on

having him brutally crucified and he lovingly takes care of

one of these enemies who had been wounded in the fray,

by healing him. I think this is a staggering example, which

we would do well to meditate upon.

Jesus said to his disciples, during his teaching ministry:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless

those who curse you, pray for those who ill treat you. If

someone strikes you on one cheek turn to him the other

also. If someone takes your cloak do not stop him from

taking your tunic. Do to others as you would have them do

to you.” (Luke 6:27-31). Jesus wants us to break out of the


vicious circle of violence and if this is going to happen it

will have to start with Christians applying his teaching and

following his example. It is first and foremost a spiritual

exercise. As we pray for our enemies our attitude towards

them can change. Feelings of animosity and desire for

revenge will dissipate and we can become disposed to

forgive. As we pray we may be led to see how we can do

good in some way towards our enemies and as we act and

react in this radically different way, our enemies may just

sit up and think, and some may actually change their ways.

Certainly, as Christians, rather than looking out for the

opportunity to exact vengeance, we should be watching

and waiting for openings whereby we can promote peace,

reconciliation and forgiveness.

Chapter 6 Jesus and anger

The last chapter looked at the theme of Jesus and violence

and we saw that Jesus displayed an example of non-

violence and love towards enemies. Following on from

this a question may have arisen in your minds.

If Jesus was not at all a violent person what are we to make

of the incidents when he cleansed the temple precincts of

dishonest traders? Is it true that these were occasions when

Jesus actually was violent? This is an important question

and it is necessary to read an account of what happened

before going on to discuss these events.

“Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were

buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the


moneychangers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It

is written’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a

house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’”

(Matthew 21:12-13). Now Jesus was certainly angry about

what was going on at the temple and when it speaks of

overturning tables and driving people out, some would tend

to regard those as violent actions. If Jesus is our example,

does this mean that we can follow similar courses of

action?

This is a question that needs to be answered carefully, and I

think that there are two aspects that we need to address:

Firstly, is it ever legitimate for a Christian to get angry?

And secondly, in what ways may a Christian express his

anger?

Jesus certainly expressed anger in the text we read earlier

but we need to understand why and we need to qualify the

word and say that it was a righteous anger. This simply

means that Jesus was angry for the right reasons, for a just

cause and for something very serious. It seems that the

traders in the temple precinct were exploiting the pilgrims

who were coming to make sacrifices in the temple. They

were probably charging far too high prices for the animals

that they were selling for sacrifices, and the money traders

were probably offering very disadvantageous rates of

exchange to Jews travelling in from foreign lands. In

addition, all this trading was taking place in what was

known in the temple as the court of the gentiles. This was

supposed to be reserved as a place where non-Jews could


worship God and obviously they could not if the whole

place had been turned into a market. So these traders were

not only dishonest and greedy, but they were depriving

people of access to God.

Put all these things together and the situation was grossly

unjust, and even the name of God was being brought into

disrepute. Now, that is why Jesus got angry, and I think

rightly so.

This raises the issue of whether we can be angry as well. It

would be easy to say that there are situations where anger

could be justified. The problem is, whenever anybody gets

angry, they are usually going to say that it was for the right

reasons, when often it is not. Perhaps one guideline could

be that Jesus was not angry on his own behalf but rather on

the behalf of others. His anger was to defend in this case,

both the honour of God and the cause of the powerless

victims of injustice. There are then times when it is

legitimate for a Christian to become angry, but this should

be reserved to defend serious causes that either involve

God’s honour, or grave oppression and injustice.

We need now to consider the question of how a Christian

can express anger. Jesus’ anger was a controlled anger that

did not go beyond certain limits. This is very different

from much anger that is expressed by men. When men or

women get angry, they tend to lose control and say or do

things that are very hurtful, that they do not necessarily

really mean and that they might later regret. Sometimes


anger can turn into violence, whether the verbal violence of

vicious insults, or the physical violence of blows.

Everything can so easily get out of hand and only serve to

worsen tensions. With Jesus, I believe he controlled

himself and stayed within certain limits. The turning over

of the tables and driving the dishonest traders from the

temple courts might appear violent but they were a

measured reaction to a serious problem. Jesus stated his

case against injustice and blasphemy but nobody actually

got hurt.

There is, then, a place for protest concerning issues of

justice that affect our lives. I think it is quite right to

express our concern, even our righteous anger, in the face

of blatant injustice and also when our freedom to worship

and follow Christ is affected. I think we need to be careful

though about how we express our concern. We should

make every effort to use legitimate ways of making our

opinion known but we should remain law-abiding citizens

and avoid any activities that risk harming people.

Sometimes for example demonstrations can turn nasty and

lead to violence or rioting. I have also heard of some

abortion protestors who have actually assaulted or

murdered doctors who practise abortion. It is good to

defend the life of the unborn but this kind of thing is really

going too far and Christians should avoid it at all costs.

This is an area that requires much care and wisdom. It is

proper to uphold God’s righteous standards but we must do


so peaceably, in a passionate but at the same time

controlled way.

Chapter 7 Jesus and the sinners

We read in the Bible that we are all sinners, for instance

Romans 3:23 says: “There is no difference, for all have

sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Everyone is a

sinner and we should not make any distinction between

persons in this respect. However, at the time of Jesus there

were people who were making a distinction and Jesus

wanted to correct them.

There was a group of religious leaders, called Pharisees,

who were very proud of their spirituality and their ritual

obedience. However they had designated certain groups of

people as particularly notorious sinners. There are two of

these groups in particular that appear in the scriptures (but

there may have been a lot more in reality) the tax collectors

who were corrupt collaborators with the Roman occupier,

and prostitutes or adulterous women.

The Pharisees perceived these notorious sinners in a very

negative manner. They did not allow themselves to

associate with them in any way. They were not allowed to

eat with them, for example, and they believed that such

people were lost without hope and that the promises of God

and salvation were not for them. They desired to exclude

them completely from Israel’s spiritual life. We see in the

gospels that the Pharisees maintained a running battle with

Jesus over this issue. They criticised him time and time


again for eating with such folk. For example in Luke 5:30

we read: “The Pharisees complained to Jesus’ disciples

saying, ‘why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?’”

They thought that Jesus could never be ritually pure or a

true prophet if he associated with such persons.

So, how did Jesus respond to such criticism? Following

the complaint that has just been quoted Jesus said: “It is

not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not

come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Also the parables in Luke 15, of the lost sheep, the lost

coin, and the prodigal, or lost son, are a reply to this kind

of criticism. We read in Luke 15:1-2 that in the crowd that

was listening to Jesus there were both notorious sinners

and members of the Pharisees who were actually muttering

about Jesus’ attitude to the sinners. The parables show that

God has compassion upon people who have seriously

messed up their lives by sin. God is prepared to forgive

those who repent and grant them a new start in life. In

these parables there is also criticism of the Pharisees who

refuse to rejoice our ruined lives being transformed by

God’s grace.

What should we learn from all of this? Firstly, that if we

are compassionately involved in the lives of disreputable

sinners then that is not going to compromise our

acceptance before God. We are not automatically going to

be contaminated by others’ sins. I would add though that

we do need to be careful. Whenever we are in the company

of persons who openly practise a particular sin we should


never join with them in practising that sin. Jesus certainly

did not and if we do find that we are tempted, then maybe

it would be best to abstain from that particular friendship.

Secondly, Jesus did not reject the notorious sinners as no

hopers. Rather, he taught them the gospel. He held out

hope for them, the hope that God could accept them,

forgive them, be reconciled to them, and give them a fresh

start in life. Instead of excluding them from the promises

of God, as the Pharisees did, he included them and told

them that God’s promises were for them as well.

However, Jesus did not actually approve of their sinful

lifestyle. Jesus’ message to all sinners is quite

straightforward – he issues a call to repentance – that is we

are to leave behind sinful behaviour in order to follow

Christ and his example. It is this very real about turn in our

life that proves the genuineness of our faith in God’s

promises. The corrupt tax collectors needed to become

honest and upright and that is exactly what Levi (Luke

5:27-32) and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) did. The

prostitutes would have had to stop exercising their immoral

trade. For all of us there has to be a rejection of sin with

our turning to Christ.

So then, what are the implications for our own ministries?

Given that we are all sinners, we must preach the same

gospel message to all and we must be careful not to fall

into the same trap as the Pharisees. That is, we must avoid


the tendency to think that some people are so bad, because

of a particularly visible or notorious sin, that the gospel is

not for them, or to think that some people are so deeply

involved in sin that they are beyond hope, that they will

never respond to the gospel. Remember Jonah; he refused,

at first, to preach at Nineveh because he did not want such

a wicked people to benefit from God’s grace and mercy.

That was racial prejudice as much as anything and God

will not tolerate such attitudes in his people.

We need to ask ourselves, are we prejudiced against certain

people, because of a particular sin that they practise? And

does this prejudice hold us back from sharing the gospel

with them? These are very searching questions, but what

right have we to deprive others of access to the grace of

God, for, as was mentioned at the beginning, we also were

sinners in God’s sight just as much as anyone else and we

should be freely sharing, with everyone, that which God

has freely given us in Christ.

Chapter 8 Jesus and the outcasts

This chapter will examine the example of Jesus’ attitude

towards outcasts, towards those who found themselves

very much on the margins of society, who were

disadvantaged or excluded in some way from normal life.

In Jesus’ time there were many types of person who could

be considered as outcasts and we meet them in the gospel

accounts. The most obvious were the lepers, but others

who were severely handicapped or others who were

demonically oppressed were also often treated as outcasts.


We need now to understand what it was like to be an

outcast. Firstly, they were people who were excluded from

the normal community life of the country. Take the lepers

for example; they had to live outside of the villages and

towns, sometimes in small colonies, in caves or makeshift

shelters. We also read in the gospels of persons oppressed

by demons living alone in isolated areas. They were

probably sent away because of their extreme anti-social

behaviour. Secondly, outcasts were excluded from the

economic life of the country. They were people with no

regular income or job. They had to rely upon the support

of family or were reduced to begging. Thirdly, outcasts

were excluded from the religious life of Israel; they were

not allowed to attend worship because they were

considered to be ritually impure and so unable to enter into

God’s presence. This was really a terrible state to be in

and we can imagine that they must have felt very rejected,

alone and abandoned.

Jesus’ attitude towards these outcasts who lived on the

margins of society will now be examined. A short reading

from Mark 1:40-42 will illustrate Jesus’ concern and

compassion for the disadvantaged – “A man with leprosy

came to Jesus and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are

willing, you can make me clean.’ Filled with compassion

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am

willing’ he said ‘be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left

him and he was cured.”


We see first of all that Jesus broke through all the barriers

of social convention, tradition and prejudice. He touched

someone that nobody else would have touched – he

touched the untouchable. True compassion is not a

sentimental feeling but it is love in action, it reaches out to

meet the disadvantaged in their need, it shows true

understanding and acceptance – in this Jesus must be our

example.

However, Jesus did much more than just touch this man.

He also cured him or cleansed him. When the man left

Jesus he no longer had leprosy. Now, I want to propose

that by cleansing the man Jesus gives something far more

important that simply physical healing – he also overcomes

the three areas of exclusion that I mentioned a short while

ago, and this should also be the goal of our compassionate

help towards those on the margins of society. As this man

had been cleansed from his leprosy there was no longer any

obstacle to him taking his full and proper place in society.

His social exclusion could be lifted, he could move back

into the village again. His economic exclusion was lifted;

he could take up a job again. Perhaps most importantly his

religious exclusion was lifted, he could once again

participate in worship and he was no longer considered as

ritually impure.

If it is true that we do not have divine power physically to

heal people, by our compassionate interest and care we can

help people to surmount these three areas of exclusion. If

we cannot always take away the root cause of someone’s


disadvantage we should lovingly provide for them in such

a way that the prejudices and suffering that they endure are

overcome or alleviated. We should try to help the person

to lead as normal a life as possible within the local

community. We can try to help the person to be as

economically independent as possible, helping them to

engage in some appropriate form of employment. Above

all, we must hold out to them the promises of the gospel,

and for those who believe, welcome them wholeheartedly,

as equals, into the church, which should become for them a

new family.

Those who find themselves rejected by society must often

feel in a hopeless situation but if Christians follow this

example of Jesus then hope will be rekindled.

Compassionate, sensitive and understanding practical love

will bring hope for the present, but best of all God’s

promises bring hope for eternity, for in his presence every

evil affliction that brings about prejudice and rejection will

be banished.

A final issue to consider is to think about what particular

groups of persons we should be concerned about today.

Each reader needs to think this question through for his or

her own situation. In many ways though things have not

changed much since Jesus’ day. There are still those who

are afflicted with leprosy – are they any better treated

today? Others who are handicapped or disabled may feel

rather rejected and disadvantaged. Others can be

marginalized because of their race or because they belong

to a particular social group. One particular issue that is


growing in importance in many countries is the current

epidemic of HIV/Aids. According to many accounts, it

seems that sufferers often meet with prejudice, feel

rejected, and are unable to fully participate in a normal life.

This issue would justify a booklet in and of itself but

churches in these countries really need to think through

how to compassionately bring the gospel and practical love

into all the complex situations that this epidemic is

producing.

There are certainly overwhelming needs facing church

leaders, all over the world, and the resources to meet these

needs are so small but we trust that the Lord would grant

much grace and wisdom to all who seek to imitate the

practical love and compassion of Christ.

Chapter 9 Conclusion

The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “Follow

my example as I follow the example of Christ.” (1

Corinthians 11:1). Church leaders and pastors are

relatively public figures who will be watched, both by their

congregations and beyond, by the community in which

they live. We will be examples whether we like it or not;

this is inevitable. The big question is – will we be good

examples or bad? Will we be examples that point to Christ

and display something of his character in our lives? Or

will we be examples that give people a bad image of Christ

and the Christian faith? Looked at in this way maybe we

can appreciate the heavy burden of responsibility that falls

upon church leaders and for this reason James says; “Not


many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers,

because you know that we who teach will be judged more

strictly.” (James 3:1).

We are then to follow the example of Christ. This booklet

has sought to outline a number of aspects of life and

ministry in which Christ should be our example and to

show, in a practical way, what a difference following that

example should make. A second booklet will be written

examining further aspects of this theme – Jesus our

example.

You may feel the heavy burden of this responsibility and

think that you are not up to it, that you do not have what it

takes to be such an example in ministry. In a sense such an

attitude, which displays humility rather than pride, is a

good starting point, but we need to move on from there and

with sincerity seek the powerful working of the Spirit of

God in our lives, for it is he who will mould us into

increasing Christ likeness. Remember, amongst Jesus’ first

words recorded in the New Testament are: “Blessed are

the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

(Matthew 5:3). That is, it is those who consider themselves

in need of help who will look with most trust to the Lord

and will receive from his riches as they allow him to reign

in their lives. The apostle Paul displays a similar attitude.

In 2 Corinthians 2:16 he writes “and who is equal to such a

task.” Paul keenly felt his limitations and vulnerability

before the overwhelming weight of the task that the Lord

had entrusted to him. However, rather than allowing


himself to be cast down into despair he threw himself

afresh in trusting submission upon the Lord, that he might

be enabled to do that which he feared he could not. A little

later in the same letter Paul writes: “we are not competent

in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our

competence comes from God. He has made us competent

as ministers of a new covenant.” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).

So then, progress in being an example of Christ can be

made as we depend upon him to transform our lives by his

Spirit.

However, it must be made clear that in this whole matter of

following the example of Christ there are not to be two

distinct classes or tiers of Christians. The Church is not to

be divided into leaders, who are obliged to follow the

example of Christ, and others who are not. The verse that

was quoted at the beginning of this conclusion shows that

Paul expected the Christians he was writing to also to

follow the example of Christ, just as he did. There is no

question of double standards.

There is a sense then in which the material contained in

this booklet should not be restricted to pastors. Rather, in

the matters that are addressed, Jesus is an example for all

believers. In this context, Paul’s exhortation to the

believers in Corinth – “Follow my example as I follow the

example of Christ”, reveals that one of the goals or

purposes of Christian leadership is that believers be


encouraged and exhorted to follow the example of Christ

themselves. How can we go about doing this?

Firstly, through the teaching ministry, we should be

teaching believers that Christ is an example who is to be

followed. If you need help or suggestions on how to go

about this, then do feel free to use the material in this

booklet as the basis for a series of sermons on this theme.

Each chapter could be used to form the outline of a

sermon; the contents can be expanded and adapted so that

it applies to your own congregation and situation.

Finally though, our own lives must be an example of

increasing Christ likeness. There should not be a flagrant

contradiction between what we are teaching and how we

are living. We cannot expect believers to do that which we

are unprepared to do ourselves. Christians in our care will

only be enabled to follow the example of Christ in the

measure that we too show that we are committed to

following it.

The apostle Paul gave similar advice when he wrote to the

young pastor Timothy. “Command and teach these

things”, instructed Paul (1 Timothy 4:11) and then a little

later he added “set an example for the believers in speech,

in love, in life and in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12).

This book is supplied by Grace Baptist Mission and

other titles are available in e-mail format at the address

below:


Grace Baptist Mission

12 Abbey Close

Abingdon

OXON

OX14 3JD

UK

e-mail: [email protected]

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