What Is the Single Best Explanation for Jesus’s Genius?
God Knows All
Jesus is unique. He is God’s son. He’s God himself. And he’s described in John 1 as “the Word.” In the beginning was the Word. Now think about this. He invented humans. He invented language. He invented human language. So when you allow that, it’s hardly surprising that he should know such a lot. And I think that just explains why he would have this.
It’s very hard just to think that merely as a carpenter in Nazareth who took every opportunity to learn you would get to the level of wisdom that Jesus has and insight into human character. And one of the great things, of course, about Jesus is the simplicity of his teaching. So the tendency amongst intellectuals and academics is to make things very complex. Jesus aims at simplicity. He actually accuses the academics of his day—the Pharisees—of taking away the keys of knowledge.
The Surprising Genius of Jesus
Peter J. Williams
In The Surprising Genius of Jesus, Peter J. Williams examines the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 to show the genius, creativity, and wisdom of Jesus’s teachings.
And I think that’s often what happens in academic discourse. People use complex language, which actually locks away knowledge. So we’ve got Jesus actually simplifying things, but I think it all rests on the fact that he is God. Now, at the same time, we are told in Luke’s Gospel of two occasions that he grew in wisdom and learned things. Now, that’s a bit of a mystery how that can go together, but I think Jesus does have opportunities to learn. He took opportunity to learn at age twelve in the temple.
That’s given as one example. But I think he would’ve taken every opportunity to learn at other times. So for instance, when the holy family—Joseph, Mary, Jesus—go down into Egypt for however long, I think they would’ve had to use Greek for that little time. I think Jesus’s parents would’ve had to have known some Greek. And he’s also growing up in Nazareth, which is a Levitical city according to archeological evidence. So that gives you a high level of literacy because more Levites were literate. And so there are these sort of opportunities to learn that one can think about that Jesus would’ve had.
Now, it doesn’t explain everything, but I think if we think of Jesus as the brightest person who ever lived, at one level it is not surprising then that he would take every opportunity to learn and so on. I mean, why should we think that God’s Son incarnate should be less clever?
Peter J. Williams is the author ofThe Surprising Genius of Jesus: What the Gospels Reveal about the Greatest Teacher.
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