Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-11-09
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
For Mop. I2-Luke 6
BY DIR. MARION McH. HULL

| Golden Text: $50 We would thai
men should do to you, do We also to
| them likewise Luke 6:31.
/ One of the things that makes
| Jesus the Christ SO attractive and
SO compelling a character is His
versatibility. He was the man
among men, or, as He often refer
| red to Himself, the son of man-all
| that humanity can expect of man
| last week we were considering Him
| as the Great Physician, and by all
| the standards of comparison He was
the greatest physician that ever
Lived. He was a lover of nature
one can read but few pages of the
| biography Of Jesus before he is i'm
pressed with the truth that Jesus
knew birds and flowers, animals and
agriculture, the melody of the noun
tains and the secrets of the sea.
And His knowledge was one that
grew out of His love of nature. He
was a carpenter, and although we
have no specimen of His work for
comparison we may be quite sure
that no better work was ever done
with the tools at His disposal. He
| was leader of men; and a great
leader, for He knew men and loved
them.
He was teacher, and so differ
enc, in that He was SO much better
than any other teacher, that even
His enemies said of Him, "N8ver
man spake like this man." With
all His versatility He was supreme;
He excelled in everything.
It is concerning Him as a teacher
that we are to study today. As a
teacher He excelled; He was the
Great Teacher beeause--wel, sup
pose we answer that after we are
through.
He knew the laws of pedagogy.
Modern psychology has formulated
certain laws which express the most
approved methods of teaching or of
causing another to learn. A careful
study OF the methods of Jesus will
convince sone that He was fully con-
versant with every one of these and
used them. In other words, psychol-
ogy has simply discovered that what
he did was the best way to teach
He excited. interest; this is the be-
ginning of attention, for without at
tention learning is impossible. A
good teacher gets interest, secures
attention and keeps it. The moment
he loses the attention of his pupils,
that moment he fails to teach. Jesus,
Great Teacher that He was, did not
depend on any one method OF excit-
ing interest and securing attention.
Sometimes It was a question He
asked that aroused curiosity, some
times an illustration, sometimes an
object lesson, sometimes a paradox
cal statement, sometimes a look, a
silence, a gesture, a compelling SEN
tence.
He established a point of contact.
He began on the learners plane; He
started with something that thu
learner already knew, and from this
led on to a larger truth that He de-
sired to teach. For example, in the
chapter before us, He wanted to
teach them the great truth concern
ing the Sabbath. They had been
making the Sabbath an object of
worship instead of an aid to wor-
ship; they Thought man was made
for the Sabbath; He wanted to teach
them the greater truth that the
Sabbath was made for man. So when
they criticized his disciples for pluck
ing some ears of corn on the Sab
bath day as they passed through
the field (which was recognized as
perfectly right, He asked them a
question, the answer to which they
knew, and from this point of con-
tact led them to the thing they
didn't know, and which He desired to
teach them.
He knew the law of language, and
used language which the learner
could understand. One of the most
remarkable things about Jesus as a
Teacher was the simplicity of the
language He used in expressing the
sublimest thoughts. His language
was so simple that there can be no
question as to what He meant There
were no flights of rhetoric, no at
tempts at display; but just the sim
pie language of the common peo-
pie, spoken quietly, but with such
intense earnestness that it gripped
those who heard Him even though
they did not yield to His appeal. OF
452 words of His in the sermon on
the plain only sixty-three are two
syllables and only nine of more than
two.
He stimulated His hearers to think
III II IIldOS
them mad, sometimes they wondered,
sometimes they glorified God; but
they were stirred to activity. This
is one Of the elements of good teach
ing.
He knew the truth and he knew
the pupils and their needs. The
fact that the things He taught few
fisherfolk in one of the smallest
countries in the world for Palestine
is only is the size of Georgia. are
still gripping all kinds Of people in
all parts of the world is one evidence
that he knew men and their needs.
He reviewed. He did not pestilate
to teach things over again. In
this chapter we read things very
similar to the beatitudes found in
Matt. 5. These were delivered in
the plain, those on the mountain.
There is no conflict of truth here;
it was just the Masters Teachers
method of repetition to make the
pupils learn.
The Character of His Teaching
The things He taught character