Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE QUESTION OF JESUS' SELF-UNDERSTANDING §15.8
itself. Jesus was remembered as a teacher because his teaching was so memorable,
in its style as well as its content. We need only recall the teaching of Jesus reviewed
above in chapters 12 and 14. In particular, we need have no hesitation in
recognizing the high incidence of wisdom sayings, aphorisms, and maxims,
which are such a feature of the Q material, so well exemplified in the Sermon on
the Mount (Matthew 5-7). 395 And it is beyond dispute that Jesus told many parables.
Indeed, although he hardly invented the parable form, it can be affirmed
with full confidence that the parable was a distinctive feature of his teaching,
both in the extended use he made of it and in its character as an extended metaphor.
396 So much so that a more accurate title for Jesus than 'teacher' would have
been mosel ('parabolist'), one who characteristically spoke in parables and pithy
sayings (m e salim). 397 Here, as in the case of Jesus the exorcist, the criterion of
'characteristic and relatively distinctive' (§10.2) proves its effectiveness, and
there should be little doubt that we are in direct touch with the enduring impact
left by Jesus.
It follows also that Jesus must have seen himself as fulfilling the role of
teacher in at least some measure. He is always remembered as responding positively
to the address 'Teacher'. 398 And he may have deliberately spoken of himself
in such terms (Matt. 10.24-25/Luke 6.40). There is nothing controversial so far.
c. The Surprising Authority with Which Jesus Taught
This feature is picked out more explicitly in the Jesus tradition. He is remembered
as one who provoked surprise and questioning at the authority with which
he taught. 399 For example, Mark characteristically links Jesus' teaching with his
exorcisms and mighty works: 'What is this? A new teaching with authority (kat'
395. D. E. Aune, 'Oral Tradition and the Aphorisms of Jesus', in Wansbrough, ed., Jesus
211-65, has catalogued 147 aphorisms in the Synoptic tradition plus 8 in John, 4 in Thomas, 8
in other Gospels (242-58). See further Ebner, Jesus 393-412, who contests the 'Cynic Jesus'
and 'subversive wisdom' hypotheses by pointing out that Jesus did not set himself against the
law (cf. §14.4 above).
396. See, e.g., Hultgren, Parables 5-11, and further above, §§12.6e and 13.1.
397. Gerhardsson, Origins 70; see also Vermes, Religion ch. 4. For a useful review of recent
literature on the parables and an indication of outstanding issues in current parable interpretation,
see C. L. Blomberg, 'The Parables of Jesus: Current Trends and Needs in Research',
in B. Chilton and C. A. Evans, eds., Studying the Historical Jesus (Leiden: Brill, 1994) 231-54.
398. The only seeming exception is Mark 10.17-18/Luke 18.18-19; but the reaction
there is to the epithet 'good teacher'.
399. Mark 1.22/Matt. 7.28-29/Luke 4.32; Mark 1.27/Luke 4.36; Mark 11.27-33/Matt.
21.23-27/Luke 20.1-8; Matt. 8.9/Luke 7.8; see also Mark 2.10 pars.; 3.15 par.; 6.7 pars.; Luke
10.19.
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