Lesson Prep w/ Prof. Jesus

Have you ever pictured Jesus doing lecture prep?

I haven't. In all the years I've learned about "what" Jesus said, I've never thought much about "how" Jesus said it. The latest book I'm reading, The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings closely looks at both. I was reading the other night about all the literary devices he employs when presenting his messages to the masses. Stein breaks down such devices as metaphor, hyperbole, pun, irony, paradox, overstatement, proverb, and various forms of poetry. Concluding the discussion of such he makes the following comment.

One can conclude that Jesus must have spent time in organizing his teaching and preparing its form, for unless we assume that this poetic parallelism (one of the forms of poetry) simply popped into his mind on the spur of the moment, we must conclude that Jesus carefully prepared for his "classes." Perhaps some of the time that he sought to be alone was not only for the purpose of prayer but also to prepare what and how he would teach.

I find that idea fascinating! It adds a certain sense of realistic humanity to his character that sometimes seems missing when contemplating a perfect Jesus as presented in the gospels.