Red-Letter Epistles: How Apostles Speak the Words of Christ – Dirk Jongkind

ABSTRACT: During the time that elapsed between Jesus’s ascension and the writing of the Gospels, the apostles faithfully taught the early churches all that Jesus had commanded. A careful reading of the Epistles reveals that Jesus’s teaching was not ignored but shaped the life and doctrine of the spreading church, such that when penning letters the apostles could frequently assume familiarity with Jesus’s words. Examining select texts from 1 Corinthians, James, and 1 Peter demonstrates the fundamental unity between the teaching in the apostolic letters and the teaching of the Lord Jesus.

For our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors and Christian leaders, we asked Dirk Jongkind (PhD, University of Cambridge), academic vice principal and senior research fellow in New Testament text and language at Tyndale House, Cambridge, to explain how the Epistles relate to Jesus’s teaching in the Gospels.

The New Testament as a whole is the teaching of Jesus, and yet it also records specifically what Jesus said during his earthly ministry. The words and works of Jesus before his ascension have come to us in the four Gospels, but these Gospels were written after the events they record. The Gospel of John contains the testimony of a disciple who saw all the things he wrote down, but he suggests that considerable time elapsed between the events and the writing (John 21:23–24). Likewise, Luke 1:1 mentions “the things that have been accomplished among us,” suggesting that Luke could include himself among those who experienced the ministry of the Lord firsthand, but he also notes that the testimony of these things had come to him by means of those who “were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (Luke 1:2). And though Matthew and Mark do not address the time of their writing directly, it stands to reason that they too may have taken some time, possibly even decades, before writing down the teaching of Jesus.1

This timeline raises a question: What happened to the teaching of Jesus between the ascension and the writing of the Gospels? Did the newly founded churches know the things Jesus had done and taught? Do we find any references to what Jesus taught in the letters of the apostles? How do the apostolic letters and the written Gospels relate to another?

When we read the New Testament carefully, the broad outline of what happened with Jesus’s teaching during the early decades of the church becomes clear and helps us see the fundamental unity between the apostolic letters and the teaching of the Lord Jesus.

The Master Plan

Jesus told his disciples that after the resurrection he would leave them to go back to the Father, though with the promise that he would return. He did not mention for how long he would be absent. He did make clear, however, that going to the Father was to their advantage (John 16:7) and that his absence implied a specific task (see Matthew 25:14–30): the proclamation of the gospel throughout the whole world (Matthew 24:14). This would require perseverance (Matthew 24:9); believers would die before the end. Jesus even told Peter that he would die a martyr’s death when he was old (John 21:18–19; 2 Peter 1:14). Thus, the broad outline of what needed to be done was clear before Jesus’s departure. But along with this outline, Jesus also gave detailed instructions.

In his final words recorded by Matthew, Jesus instructs the apostles to “make disciples” while “baptizing” and “teaching” (Matthew 28:19–20). What is it that the disciples are to teach? The answer is simple but broad in scope: “all that I have commanded you.” To be frank, that is a lot. Jesus had taught the disciples much over the course of the preceding few years. Can we be more precise about what “all that Jesus commanded” comprises? And, if it is a large amount of material, how could they remember it all?

The first part of the question is the easiest to answer. Since Matthew uses these words of Jesus to conclude his account of who Jesus is and what he has done, the most straightforward answer to the question “What is all that Jesus had commanded?” is “Everything we find in this Gospel.” Here (and in the other Gospels), we find what Jesus had instructed his disciples to keep and to do.

But what about the second half of our question, about how they were to remember? Matthew’s Gospel is of course a sure way to transmit the teaching; yet this was not the first thing Jesus had in mind. After he commands them to teach “all that I have commanded you,” he promises, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). This promise of the Lord’s presence does not mean that he would not go to the Father (and Matthew assumes that none of his readers would draw such a faulty conclusion); rather, it means that Jesus would be with them in a different, permanent way, one that would guarantee that they remembered all his words and that they could fulfill their task. Jesus promises to dwell in their hearts through the Spirit.

The Role of the Holy Spirit

In John’s Gospel, Jesus unpacks the role of the Holy Spirit in connection to the teaching task of the disciples. In the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus explains that he is going to the Father but that he will also come to his disciples, though he will be with them in a different way: They will be in him and he in them (John 14:12, 18, 20).

Jesus then explains that this “dwelling” occurs in the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will teach them “all things” and “bring to [their] remembrance” everything Jesus said (John 14:26). Here we have the answer to the questions we raised earlier. The Holy Spirit is the one who reminded the disciples of all that Jesus commanded them. And it is indeed through the Holy Spirit that Jesus fulfilled his promise to be “with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Holy Spirit, who came once Jesus was glorified, reminded and taught the disciples afterward. Earlier in the Gospel, John gives a concrete example of how the Holy Spirit would do this. John comments in connection with the triumphal entry,

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. (John 12:16)

John admits that they did not understand the events of the triumphal entry but that afterward they “remembered.” Why did they remember only after Jesus was glorified? We’ve already seen the answer: The Holy Spirit came after Jesus was glorified, and then he taught and reminded the disciples (John 14:26).2 The apostles’ task to teach everything Jesus commanded was possible only after the ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Teachings of Jesus in Acts

The book of Acts reminds us frequently that the apostles taught the church (Acts 2:42; 5:42; 11:26; 15:35; 18:11; 20:20; 28:31) and also that they used their teaching to evangelize (Acts 4:2; 5:21, 28, 42; 13:12). Though every believer had received the Spirit, the main teaching came to the church not directly from the Spirit but mediated through the teaching of the apostles, who had been taught themselves by the Spirit in a special way. So, what was the content of their teaching about Jesus? Did it resemble what we find now written in the Gospels?

When Peter is preaching the gospel to the willing audience gathered in the house of Cornelius the centurion in Caesarea, he starts laying out the message that God had sent to Israel. Peter does not dwell on what Jesus taught or commanded; instead, he gives an overview of the events that happened over the course of Jesus’s ministry, beginning from Galilee after John the Baptist’s ministry (Acts 10:36–42).3 Peter explains why Jesus is called the Christ (“anointed one”), since God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit. He says that Jesus did good deeds, performed miracles, and finally accomplished his work in Jerusalem. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to those who believed and who would receive the task of testifying to these events.

Peter gives a historical overview of what Jesus did, but he does not explain what Jesus taught. The only theological interpretation Peter gives is that Jesus is clearly appointed to be the “judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42; compare 17:31), but what Jesus commanded his disciples is not part of Peter’s evangelistic preaching on this occasion. Peter closes his speech with one further truth that is essential to understanding the importance of the historical Jesus:

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:43)

Peter introduces these words as something the prophets bear witness to, but it is also clear from Jesus’s own words that he forgives the sins of those who come to him. And that is about as much of the teaching of Jesus that shines through in Peter’s message.

When Peter relates these events in Caesarea to the church in Jerusalem, he does say that Jesus’s teaching guided him to the correct interpretation of the visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those gathered at Cornelius’s house (Acts 11:16). Still, the words Peter remembers were directly spoken by Jesus in Acts 1:5 and are therefore no clear indication that the apostles taught the words of Jesus spoken before his resurrection.4

So, we have seen that the apostles preached and taught the life of Jesus, but did they also fulfill his command to teach new disciples to obey everything he had commanded?

The Teachings of Jesus in the Epistles

The most obvious place to learn about the apostolic teaching of Jesus’s words is the written record of their teaching in the Epistles. We do not find them actively teaching the sayings of Jesus, his parables, or his words about the last things. What we do find is much more remarkable. It appears that the apostles assumed that the churches already knew the teaching of Jesus! That is, the apostles refer to what Jesus said, and they expect their readers to understand what they are talking about.

The Teachings of Jesus in 1 Corinthians

Perhaps the clearest example is when Paul talks about the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11. He reminds the church of something he had received himself and that, he says, “I also delivered to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23). Note that Paul explicitly says that he had taught the following words already. He is referring to one of the traditions (the “things delivered”) already mentioned, which the church maintained just as he had delivered it (11:2).5 So, when Paul reminds the church of the words of the institution, he expects that these words are recognized and acknowledged.

It is instructive to see how closely Paul’s “tradition” fits with how Luke records the same event (the numbers in brackets indicate corresponding elements).

[1] The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed
[2] took bread, and
[3] when he had given thanks,
[4] he broke it,
[5] and said,
[6] “This is my body, which is for you.
[7] Do this in remembrance of me.”
[8] In the same way also he took the cup,
[9] after supper,6
[10] saying,
[11] “This cup
[12] is the new covenant in my blood.
[13] Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:23–25)

[1] And he
[2] took bread, and
[3] when he had given thanks,
[4] he broke it and gave it to them,
[5] saying,
[6] “This is my body, which is given for you.
[7] Do this in remembrance of me.”
[8] And likewise the cup
[9] after they had eaten,
[10] saying,
[11] “This cup that is poured out for you
[12] is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19–20)

Not only do both passages use the same words to record what Jesus spoke, but even the narrative introductions to the spoken material are very similar. The Corinthians had been taught certain “traditions” about Jesus, including the institution of the Lord’s Supper in words that would be written down in the Gospel of Luke. Luke says the content of his Gospel account is “just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us” (Luke 1:2), and we see here that much of the actual wording was written down unchanged. Paul had signaled clearly what he was doing; these are words that the church had received already. Paul writes against a background in which the church knows the teaching of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 11 contains possibly the most explicit reference to the teaching of Jesus handed down by the apostles before the Gospels were written, but it is certainly not the only reference.

The Teachings of Jesus in James

The letter of James does not seem to talk a lot about Jesus. There is no extended discussion of the crucifixion or resurrection, and most of its teaching is about Christian living and ethical matters. But the letter sits very close to what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, James refers to Jesus’s teaching without even signaling that he does so. The most telling example is found in James 5:12.

The previous section deals with perseverance, and James refers to Job in the Old Testament as an example of steadfastness. Then James moves to the next topic: “Above all, my brothers . . .” (James 5:12). One would perhaps now expect a climactic command or encouragement, but what we find is that James tells the believers not to swear so as not to fall under condemnation. There is no indication that the following words are anything else than James’s continued teaching. But the keen-eyed Bible reader will realize that what James says here sounds very much like what Jesus taught. The similarities are indeed remarkable. (As with the previous section, the bracketed numbers indicate corresponding material.)

[1] But above all, my brothers,
[2] do not swear,
[3] either by heaven
[4] or by earth
[5] or by any other oath,
[6] but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no,
[7] so that you may not fall under condemnation. (James 5:12)

[1] But I say to you,
[2] Do not take an oath at all,
[3] either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
[4] or by the earth, for it is his footstool,
[5] or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
[6] Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No”;
[7] anything more than this comes from evil. (Matthew 5:34–37)

The comparison indicates that James is shortening what Jesus had taught on the subject without straying far from his words.7 As in 1 Corinthians 11, there is a remarkably close connection between the teaching of the apostle and the words of Jesus. However, unlike Paul, James does not deem it necessary to introduce these words as coming from Jesus or to mention that this is a tradition they know already. He seems to expect that his readers will pick it up and even that they will fill in the summarized parts of the original saying.

This example helps us to see how much awareness of Jesus’s teaching the apostles expected from their readership. James refers to Jesus’s words with apparent ease, without even the need to introduce them with a phrase such as, “I say this to you by a word of the Lord.”

The Teachings of Jesus in 1 Peter

In his first letter, Peter is very clear on the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But he also gives a lot of room to exhort his audience to live truly for God. And in doing so, Peter refers regularly to what Jesus taught — without saying so explicitly.

First Peter 2:12 is one of the clearest examples. Peter writes,

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

The words in bold restate what Jesus says in Matthew 5:16:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The word “deeds” in 1 Peter is a translation of the same Greek word in Matthew (erga), and likewise the verb “glorify” is the same at both places (doxazosin), though the second time it is translated as “give glory.” Even without these minor adjustments, we can notice that Peter uses the words of Jesus as part of his own instruction.

He does the same in 1 Peter 3:14:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.

Compare this to the eighth beatitude (Matthew 5:10):

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Peter says, with Jesus, that if believers are suffering “for righteousness’ sake,” they are blessed.8

He makes a similar statement in 1 Peter 4:14:9

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Compare this with Matthew 5:11, which forms a bridge between the Beatitudes and the rest of the sermon:

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

The difference between the words of Jesus and those of Peter looks a little larger than our previous two examples, but there are still striking similarities. Again, both use the term “blessed.”10 Also, Peter’s version of the phrase “on my account” is “for the name of Christ.” The idea is similar, but the wording differs, partly because Peter had to change “my.” Finally, there is the verb “you are insulted” (Peter) and “[they] revile” (Matthew). Here the difference is smaller than the translations suggest, since both Jesus and Peter use forms of the same verb (oneidizō).

Peter’s first readers, who may have known the words of Jesus much better than we do now, would likely have picked up on the similarities and noted that Peter’s teaching was solidly based on what had been handed down from Jesus.

Reading the Epistles in Light of the Gospels

We have looked at only five examples where the teaching of the apostles reflects the words of Jesus directly.11 That the apostles reference what Jesus said should not surprise us, especially in light of Jesus’s command to teach everything he had commanded them (Matthew 28:20).

The apostles were given the authority to speak in the name of Jesus, an authority that came with a special blessing of the Holy Spirit. And they used this apostolic authority to preach, apply, and unpack all that Jesus had taught. There are even moments where they say they have revealed things hidden from previous generations (Romans 16:25–26; Ephesians 3:5). But their teaching started with Jesus Christ. He forms the foundation. His work, his words, his teaching formed the basis of the apostolic teaching, just as Jesus filled their lives and their thinking ever since the resurrection and Pentecost. They could not speak about anyone else, and therefore they shared everything they had learned from and about him.

Once the apostles were confronted with the need to instruct the churches also by letter, they did so against a background in which these churches had already learned the words of Jesus well. And since Jesus’s teaching filled both the apostles and their audience, it is only natural that his words were effortlessly woven into the letters; it was a “language” both knew intimately.12

When we think about the history of the early church, too often the role of the Lord Jesus is diminished or restricted to that of an itinerant rabbi whose teaching made sense only in a small corner of the known world while his death and resurrection had universal impact — and as if the apostles connected only to that event in their teaching. This is not true. There is a fundamental unity in the New Testament. The teaching of the apostles was based on the command that Jesus gave them: “Make disciples . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20).

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