What Jesus Did! 'Limited Doses and Visual Hooks' — Mark 4:33

Jesus was an incredible teacher in his earthly ministry. He used common, everyday images as hooks on which to hang eternal truth. The people would see those images in their day-to-day lives and then would be reminded of the eternal truth that Jesus hooked to the image. That method was crucial. The people couldn't understand everything all at once. Until his death and resurrection and without the work of the Holy Spirit, much of what he said and meant was a mystery. Yet those images allowed him to share messages "pregnant" with meaning. Later, as the disciples learned more about Jesus' life and ministry and as the Holy Spirit began to work in each follower's life, they could see the visual image, take Jesus' message off the visual hook, and more fully understand his message. Teaching God's truth is an awesome and humbling responsibility. Jesus is the great reminder that it is also a creative responsibility. More than just communicating a message, we're communicating God's will to people who need to understand, to obey, and to be blessed by this message.