Public preaching and teaching is seen routinely in Scripture, though its particulars may differ.

Preaching & Teaching Before Jesus

All the way back to the Law of Moses, God prescribed:

  • Josh 8:30-35
  • Public Bible reading, at least every 7th year (Deut. 31:9-13). 
  • As well as private Bible study, at least for kings (Deut. 17:18-19)

Thus, when Israel returned from Babylonian exile, Ezra, “the teacher of the law,” (Nehemiah 8:4) soon modeled this when:

  • He and other leaders publicly read the Bible to all the Israelites from a raised platform, “clearly [or with interpretation], and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading,” (Nehemiah 8:8).
  • He also, “devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law,” (Ezra 7:10).

Synagogue Preaching & Teaching

At the time of Jesus, established preaching and teaching was happening weekly at Synagogue. And though Jesus chastised much of Jewish practices in His day, He seems content with this this particular practice:

  • “He [Jesus] went into the synagogue, as was his custom” (Luke 4:16), read from the Scriptures (Luke 4:18-19 cf. Isaiah 61), and expounded on them accordingly (Luke 4:21).
  • He told his disciples to listen even to hypocritical teachers who nevertheless taught the Bible truly from the synagogue, as they, “sit in Moses’ seat,” (Matt. 23:2-3).

Jesus’ Preaching & Teaching

Further, Jesus’ own ministry shows a proliferation of teaching and preaching in diverse settings, including:

  • One-on-one teaching at a Samaritan well (John 4)
  • One-on-two teaching on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27)
  • “throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,” (Luke 4:15)
  • Sitting from a boat while teaching a crowd (Luke 5:1-3)
  • Teaching to, “a large crowd of his disciples…and a great number of people from all over…” (Luke 6:17) in a mountainous area (cf. Matt. 5:1)
  • Etc.

In fact, almost half of the gospels show Jesus speaking, and thus teaching, over his 3.5 year ministry.

Apostles Preaching & Teaching

Accordingly, Jesus also commissioned His disciples to, “Make disciples…[by] teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” (Matt. 28:20). Active teaching is key to Jesus’/God’s disciple-making.

As such, we see the early church formed with Peter publicly preaching to the disciples and crowds (Acts 2:14-41). Then the church, “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” (Acts 2:42).

The apostles saw their teaching/preaching ministry as more important than tending to the physical needs of widows (Acts 6:2), on par only with prayer in place of importance (Acts 6:4), and integral to their apostolic work (1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11). 

Similar to the gospels, much of the book of Acts is simply the record of public preaching and teaching.

Preaching & Teaching Continued

This preaching/teaching function is by no means limited to the original apostles, either. 

Paul tells Timothy:

  • “Set the believers an example…Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching…Practice these things, immerse yourself in them…Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching…by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Tim. 4:12-16). Thus Timothy is charged to publicly read, preach, and teach Scripture for the believers in Paul’s absence.
  • “You, however, have followed my teaching…Preach the word…” (2 Tim. 3:10-4:2)

And of elders/leaders we read:

  • “An overseer must be…able to teach,” (1 Tim. 3:2)
  • “An overseer…must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine,” (Titus 1:9)
  • “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching,” (1 Tim. 5:17)
  • “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.” (Heb. 13:7)

The Setting

Such preaching and teaching happened: 

  • in Synagogue services as well as in houses or outdoors
  • With small audiences and large crowds
  • On Sabbath days, Sundays, and other days
  • By untrained people immersed in the Lord and His word
  • Spontaneously (1 Cor. 14) and planned (1 Tim).

The audience was largely disciples and seekers, though skeptics also attended. For obvious reasons, disciples and those most interested in the content would be the primary audience. Acts 17

The Content = Scripture / God’s Kingdom and Gospel

Not only is the medium consistent (preaching and teaching) but the message is also consistent throughout Scripture. Namely, they were to read and expound on Scripture itself: 

  • Deut. 31:9-13 – specifically commands them to read Scripture out loud
  • Ezra, likewise, reads and explains the Scriptures to the people (Nehemiah 8:8)
  • Jesus, when He came, spends much of His time drawing people back to Scripture to show how it revealed Himself (Luke 24:44; John 5:39), as well as to correct faulty understandings people had of Scripture (“You have heard it said [insert faulty Scriptural interpretations/conclusions]…yet I say to you [insert proper Scriptural understanding]”–see Matt. 5).
  • Much of the preaching of the Apostles in Acts quotes the O.T. Scriptures.
  • Paul tells Timothy to focus on Scripture in his preaching and teaching (1 Tim. 4:12-16; 2 Tim. 3:10-4:2)
  • Etc.

Of course, these Scriptures only included the O.T. in the Gospels and Acts. But Jesus and the Apostles recognize their teachings as part of this corpus of Scripture (Matt. 24:35; 1 Thes. 2:13; 1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; etc.). Thus the injunction to preach and teach the Scriptures extends to all of God’s word (O.T. and N.T.).

Saying this, we should also point out that 2 themes especially dominate the teaching/preaching of the N.T.:

  1. The Gospel – see Matt. 4:23; 9:35; Luke 4:43; Acts 8:12; 1 Cor. 2:2; 15:1; Etc.
  2. The Kingdom of God – see Matt. 4:23; 9:35; Luke 4:43; Acts 1:3; 8:12; Etc.

The Gospel

The gospel (i.e. God reconciling Himself with sinful people through Christ’s atoning sacrifice) is the main theme of Scripture (see Christ & The Gospel). The first 4 books of the N.T. are, in fact, called “gospels,” as they are wholly concerned with telling the “good news” (i.e. “gospel”) of Jesus’ life with special attention on his final week where He dies and resurrects to atone our sins (this last week takes up nearly half of the content of the gospels according to one count).

Likewise, a main thrust of Paul’s letters is clarifying and correcting what the gospel is. Consider, for instance, Romans where most of the letter is a thorough explanation of the gospel, yet it is addressed to Christians who would have believed the gospel in some form already.

The Kingdom

The kingdom of God/heaven is also a main theme of the Bible (with a focus on the Messiah as a King greater than David), as well as a subject that takes a central place in much of Jesus’ preaching and teaching, see especially his parables that largely focus on a king/kingdom. In fact, we are told that in the remaining 40 days of His earthly ministry, He was, “speaking about the kingdom of God,” (Acts 1:3). Likewise, Acts ends with Paul spending, “two whole years…proclaiming the kingdom of God,” (28:30-31).

The Gospel & The Kingdom

In reality, the gospel and the kingdom are 2 sides of the same coin. In fact, in multiple places we read the phrase, “the gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; etc.). 

The gospel is the good news of a holy God making peace with sinful people through Jesus. The Kingdom is the Lordship/domain of King Jesus. Thus, all who receive the gospel are, “transferred…to the kingdom of his [God’s] beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” (Col. 1:13). And, “unless one is born again [through receiving the gospel, see Eph. 1:13] he cannot see the kingdom of God,” (John 3:3).

Our surrendering to Jesus as Lord and King is part of the repentance required to receive the gospel. We become subjects of the King.

So the gospel brings us into the kingdom. And the kingdom is built upon this gospel (consider, for instance, that the final book of the Bible depicts the reigning king as a slain Lamb–Rev. 5:6, 7:17; etc.) and a greater understanding of that gospel (see Christ & The Gospel).

Doctrine & Character

This section contains notes that have not yet been developed. For times’ sake, I just publish it this way in hopes of having them fleshed out more in the future:

  • Different: guard the doctrine and your life
  • Light → Life / 2 Pet. 1 / Rom. 6 / 1 Cor. 15
  • James 1: Practice helps remember
  • They should inform and influence each other
  • Elders: emphasis on character
  • Matt 7 – don’t practice you are on sand
  • Matt 13 – parable of sower
  • Matt. 28 – teach to observe what is practiced

Conclusion

Mostly he teaches to those following Him, but He freely engages with non-believers, too. A lot of this time is expounding on Scripture, especially correcting misinterpretations (cf. “you have heard it said,” versus “I say to you,”) (“you err not knowing the Scriptures”). His teaching carries the expectation of obedience and warning of disobedience, which shows that it was up to the hearer how they responded. In fact, a pivotal parable of His centers around the concept of a word going forth with differing results based on heart-response.

He also commissions his followers to do as He does: teach and preach God’s kingdom. And then, shortly before ascending, He gives his “great commission”. There He tells them to… Mt 28

In turn, Peter publicly preached Jesus at Pentecost. And the church devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teachings (this was before they codified them in the N.T., and surely included teachings not included in the N.T.).

We see the apostles teaching in many settings. They said such “ministry of the word” was the most important thing to dedicate themselves to (along with prayer) – Acts 6:4. The word was the word of God (see Luke 8). It included all such teaching that stems from Christ (the word Incarnate) and Scripture (John 10). Such teachings were gospel-centered (as the entire Scriptures are, and thus any faithful teaching of God’s word must be gospel-centered). Thus it would be evangelistic to the lost and edifying to the sheep (Eph. 4).

Paul similarly could go and preach/teach faithfully to the lost as well as the disciples (where it seems he focused the bulk of his time). Again, all of this preaching and teaching was gospel-centered. He also, as Jesus and the O.T. did, admonished private Bible study to balance the teachings being given and hold teachers accountable.

In instructing Timothy, Paul tells him to publicly read the Scriptures with the church while he’s gone (carrying on what we saw above in Deut, Ezra, Jesus, etc.)–note this is indicated in Rev. 1:3 as well. He also tells Timothy to guard the doctrine and his life, and pass both on faithfully. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy were meant to flow from each other. He models this for Timothy directly in 2 Tim. 3. Notice first he says, “follow my teachings”, then “follow my examples…” And then he tells Timothy to go to Scripture directly (self-feeding). From there, “preach the word” to others. Again, this follows the pattern above.

Further, this tradition of teaching rightly what Scripture says (while also upholding right living) continues in the instructions to elders. The traits of an elder overwhelmingly focus on character. But they also include the elders’ ability to teach and pass on doctrine faithfully. 1 Tim; Titus; Heb 13

What I’m not saying:

1 person does all the work and the rest are passive. Matt. 7; Luke 6 – Jesus had expectations that they would act on his teachings, and they were judged for not acting (which shows that was an option)

No Prescriptions

Also note that 1 Cor. 14 shows a church meeting where everyone shared according to what the Spirit impressed. Thus, there is not a prescription for the words or ways to preach. Though, as noted above, the message would and should focus on Christ, His Gospel, and His Kingdom.