The Moral Teachings of Jesus (David P. Gushee) -- Review

THE MORAL TEACHINGS OF JESUS: Radical Instruction in the Will of God. By David P. Gushee. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2024. Xiv + 200 pages.

By definition, a Christian is (or should be) a follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ. If this is true, then it means that Christians would seek to follow the teachings of Jesus. While this should not be a surprising conclusion, in practice, many Christians disregard Jesus' teachings. Many of them seem at best inconvenient. Instead, many Christians believe that as long as they claim Jesus as their savior based on Jesus' death on the cross nothing more is required of them. Jesus' moral teachings may sound good, but they aren't very practical. At least that seems to be the conclusion of many Christians as we seek to navigate life in this world. Many of Jesus’ directives are indeed difficult to enact. In other words, they can be radical instructions when it comes to living out the will of God.

When it comes to understanding the implications of Jesus’ moral teachings, there are few scholars better equipped to guide the conversation than David Gushee. Gushee is a leading Christian ethicist, who has written widely on the moral and ethical dimensions of Christian life in today’s world. In recent years Gushee has addressed the concerns of growing numbers of Christians who are perplexed about the current state of Christianity. He has given special attention to the concerns of post-evangelicals, people who want to follow Jesus but have found evangelicalism to no longer speak to their concerns in life. In The Moral Teachings of Jesus, Gushee writes not as a biblical scholar but as a Christian ethicist, drawing in sound biblical scholarship, such that he can speak directly to the role that Jesus’ moral teachings play in defining what it means to be a Christian. That means focusing on the Gospels.

David Gushee is the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University. He also holds a chair in Christian social ethics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam), as well as the author of several books on Christian ethics and modern Christian life. Among the important books published recently but before The Moral Teachings of Jesus, are Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies (Eerdmans, 2023) and Introducing Christian Ethics (Front Edge Publishing 2022).

In The Moral Teachings of Jesus, Gushee takes us on a journey through the Gospels, beginning with Mark and ending with several passages connected with the Passion Week, that reveal Jesus' moral teachings. In the course of this study, which I believe will serve congregational study groups quite well, we see the revealing of a radical understanding of God's will. Gushee wrote this book, which covers forty different expressions of Jesus' moral teachings, with a specific group in mind. He has become a leading figure within the post-evangelical movement. He writes this book to help this particular group come to grips with the person of Jesus and his message for today. Gushee’s purpose in writing this book is to call the church back to first principles. In doing this, he seeks to help readers better understand what Jesus has to say about how his followers live their lives. He speaks of two primary presuppositions at work in the book. The first presupposition is that "Jesus' moral teachings were circulated as sayings for decades before being edited and integrated into the narratives offered by the Gospel writers." The second presupposition is that Mark offers the first complete Gospel. Therefore, that is where he starts (p. xii).

Gushee divides The Moral Teachings of Jesus into five parts. He begins his study by looking at nine passages/pericopes from the Gospel of Mark, starting with Mark’s declaration that the Kingdom of God has drawn near. He reminds us that Jesus drew upon the message of John the Baptist. He points out that like John, “Jesus speaks of wrath, but Jesus also speaks of God’s mercy, of God’s deliverance, especially for those mistreated in this age before God’s intervention” (p. 5). After noting in Chapter 1, Mark’s and Jesus’ focus on the realm of God, he speaks of Jesus’ teachings on Sabbath observance (Chapter 2), family problems (Chapter 3), tradition (Chapter 4), denial of self (Chapter 5), true greatness (Chapter 6), temptation (Chapter 7), marriage, divorce, and children (Chapter 8), and the rich man seeking salvation (Chapter 9). In each of these chapters, Gushee takes note of parallels in the other gospels.

From the passages taken from Mark, Gushee moves in Part 2 to Matthew. He focuses specifically on passages unique to Matthew’s Gospel. More specifically, he devotes eleven chapters to passages found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), beginning with the Beatitudes.” Of the Sermon on the Mount, he writes: “Rich with moral content, it deserves its reputation as the most significant body of moral teachings, not just of Jesus, but of any biblical figure. The SM was central in the moral teaching of the early church, and it continually resurfaces in Christian history, especially when fresh winds of renewal blow through the church. Its moral radicalism continually challenges the church either to a corresponding obedience or to a guilty conscience and strategies of evasion” (p. 45). Besides the eleven chapters, beginning with the Beatitudes, he offers an interpretation of four other passages from Matthew. He concludes in Chapter 24 with the Parable of “Workers in the Vineyard.” Of this parable, he notes that it is usually interpreted to speak of salvation, but following Miguel de la Torre, he concludes that it has economic implications. Thus, “In the kingdom of God, finally, no human system is allowed to exist that deprives people of what they need to live” (p. 112).

Moving on to the Gospel of Luke (Part Three), we encounter nine more passages. These nine passages include the story of the woman who anoints Jesus (Chapter 25), the Greatest Commandment (Chapter 26) —he speaks of the commandment to love God as the “moral center of Jesus’ teachings, or at least as a very serious candidate for that designation (p. 120)— the parable of the rich fool (Chapter 27), humility and exaltation (Chapter 28), the lost sons/broken family (Chapter 29), God vs. mammon (Chapter 30), Lazarus and the rich man (Chapter 31), the widow who demands justice (Chapter 32), and the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Chapter 33). When it comes to the tax collector, he notes that what we want from him is what we should want from ourselves. “Deep repentance when that is needed, life changes that are real and lasting, but never a turn toward becoming an obnoxiously self-righteous religious person. It is the combination of humility and a way of life morally pleasing to God that should be our goal” (p. 156).     

After taking note of the passages from the Gospel of Luke, in Part Four Gushee focuses on four passages from the Gospel of John. The four passages that appear in John’s Gospel are unique to his Gospel. He begins with the Woman at the Well (Chapter 34). Having earlier noted stories that speak of the Samaritan-Jewish separation, in this passage he notes that the story reveals Jesus’ humanity, such that he is tired and thirsty. He also notes that the story speaks of the overcoming by both Jesus and the woman, gender, religious, and ethnic distinctions. The parable speaks of the extension of hospitality across “tense religious and ethnic lines. Good news. Indeed” (p. 163). Other passages include the story of the woman facing execution for adultery (Chapter 35), the mandate to love one another in John 13 (Chapter 36), and Jesus' prayer that his followers would be one in John 17, a key passage for ecumenical life (Chapter 37). Of this prayer, Gushee writes that this prayer for Christian unity and the theological conviction that extends from it is part of the Christian confession. Thus, “Peace and unity are not easy, and Christians are often bitterly divided. But every time we Christians bear with one another, choose to seek peace, and remain in relationships that defy our natural human tendencies, something special is happening. At these times, we see Jesus’ prayer being answered. We must never give up the quest for Christian unity” (p. 176). As someone committed to the pursuit of Christian unity, I must add my amen to that declaration. When it comes to the Gospel of John, Gushee notes that his Gospel contains the fewest direct moral teachings, but it still offers an important witness.

Gushee devotes Part Five of The Moral Teachings of Jesus to Passion Week. He takes note of three scenes from Passion Week. These include a chapter focused on Jesus’ occupation of the Temple, whence he cleanses it (Chapter 38). This story is found in all four Gospels, though John places it in a different spot in the timeline of Jesus’ ministry. Rather than during Passion Week, it occurs early in Jesus’ ministry. The second story deals with the question of paying taxes to Caesar, a story found in the three Synoptic Gospels (Chapter 39). Gushee points out that “Much of the time, this text has been understood to mean just the opposite of what Jesus probably did mean. It has been read as a counsel of submission to the state” (p. 187). Finally, there is Jesus' story/parable of judgment in Matthew 25 (Chapter 40). Of this parable and its implications, Gushee writes that “Jesus appears to be training believers through this story to see himself in the face of the suffering and needy people that we encounter. He doesn’t just send them to us, like a king sending an ambassador. He is the suffering one. If you want to know where to find God incarnate in this world, look to the suffering ones” (pp. 192-193).   

I can't do justice to Gushee's discussion of the forty passages he has selected by trying to summarize each of them. What I can say is that he draws upon leading biblical scholars, including Amy-Jill Levine, an important Jewish New Testament scholar. He listens closely to their analysis of the text and then draws on his expertise in Christian ethics to make an application to our times. Each of these forty chapters is about fifteen hundred words or so in length, which makes them manageable reading and discussion starters. Preachers will benefit from his analysis of the passages because he connects strong exegesis with the practical implications of Jesus' teachings. Most importantly, Gushee reminds us that Jesus' message was quite radical. At the same time, he is very careful not to suggest that Jesus took anti-Jewish views and warns against modern readers of the Gospels taking anti-Jewish perspectives on moral issues. As such, Gushee writes that he believes "that the teachings of Jesus offer the best ethical instruction, the best account of the will of God, that the world has ever heard." Therefore, to be a Christian is to obey those teachings. (p. 198).

At a time when many people are wondering whether Christianity is viable, especially institutionally—in large part due to the behavior of Christians—Gushee offers an important response in his The Moral Teachings of Jesus. Again, he directs his message to people who may be questioning the validity and value of the Christian message. He does so by inviting them to consider what Jesus has to say about life in this world. It is a call to radical discipleship. He also takes note of our human frailties, believing that Jesus understands them quite well. But he also calls us to live differently. Therefore, “This Kingdom of God has moral dimensions that can be practiced right now. Jesus is not just teaching high ideals or impossible ethical perfectionism intended to humble us by reminding us of how sinful and imperfect we are. We are that for sure.” That said, Jesus speaks in these passages about retraining our lives so we can live differently (p. 197).

Jesus turned things upside down, which makes us uncomfortable. However, as Gushee notes, The Moral Teachings of Jesus speak to how we might live as Christians in the world as the vanguard of God’s realm. David Gushee has once again provided a book filled with wisdom. While the book doesn’t include a study guide as written, a study guide can be found on Gushee's website. That will be very useful. It would also work nicely for daily devotional reading, as long as it is understood that the point is not to necessarily make us feel good about ourselves. Reading this book serves as a reminder that Jesus didn’t just come into the world to die on a cross so we can get a free pass to heaven if we say yes to Jesus. He has some radical expectations of his followers. Therefore, this is the kind of book or resource the church needs at this moment when it seems as if we have gone astray as a people who claim to be followers of Jesus.