Short Sayings of Jesus

During the Feast of Booths, a festival to connect God's past provision of water and future provision of the Messiah, Jesus claims to be the Messiah and that he can quench our spiritual thirst with the Holy Spirit. We can drink the "living water" of Jesus in 2 ways: 1) entrust ourselves to Jesus; 2) be continually filled by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus emphasizes the importance of humility and God's opposition to pride. God is always opposed to the proud and He always exalts the humble. God does this by looking for: 1) our heart attitudes towards ourselves; 2) our view of human praise and recognition; 3) our fear of man or rest in Him. We can cultivate humility by cooperating with God in the process.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the issue of judging others and offers three practical steps for overcoming a critical spirit in relationships. First, notice the log, or sin, in your own life. Second, remove the log in your own life by admitting sin and seeking forgiveness from the person you wronged. Third, remove the speck, or sin, from the other persons' life by overlooking their offense, or gently pointing out their fault.

During a Jewish feast, many Greeks seeking spiritual insight come to see Jesus. Jesus gives the illustration of a seed falling into the ground and dying to bear fruit; teaching the principle of life-out-of-death. He applies this principle in 3 ways: 1) out of Jesus' death we receive eternal life; 2) as we die to self and sacrifice our fleshly desires, we gain a deeper spiritual life;3) our ongoing death to self brings life to others.

Jesus address the area of influence authority figures have on those who follow them. He teaches that we have a choice in who influences us spiritually and we should choose those people carefully. If we choose to be a follower of Christ we should expect persecution and mistreatment by those who oppose Christ. He also applies this to the area of greatness and that true greatness is serving others the way Jesus has served you.

In the narrative of Martha and Mary, Jesus teaches the lesson that God's Word is always the most important thing. We can listen to God as we seek time with Him, reading and studying the Bible, and listening to Him in prayer.

During Jesus' healing ministry he saw the needs of the people, he felt compassion on them, and he acted by healing and showing grace. He teaches that "the harvest is plentiful", there are many more people in need. "But the workers are few", Jesus is seeking people who will see the needs of the people, feel compassion, and act by guiding them to Him.

During a Jewish festival where the identity of Jesus is being questioned, he addresses the nature of true freedom and true slavery. Jesus exposes the misconceptions of what freedom is and exposes that living for sin and self is actually slavery. He reveals that the nature of true freedom is in loving God and others, not living for self. Jesus instructs that it is only through him that people can become truly free and that our freedom increases as we grow with him.

Jesus talks to his disciples about the end of the age and God's judgment of evil. The Bible reveals a God who takes evil seriously and whose judgment is in connection to His love. Through God's mercy, Jesus has taken on himself the judgment we deserve.

Jesus tells followers how they can find rest for their souls by following him. What does it mean to take on his yoke? How can we understand being gentle and humble of heart?

When Jesus instructs his disciples on how to pray, he stresses 3 important attitudes: a willingness to serve, a sense of helplessness, and a boldness. With these attitudes in mind, we can come before God each day, presenting ourselves, and know that He will allow us a lifestyle that will fill us with joy and purpose.