CRISPY CRUST OR TENDER CRUMB?

“In your living and loving ministry serve spiritual food in attractive form and suited to the capacity of receptivity of each of your inquirers.” [UB 133:4:2]

Thought Adjuster: “Jesus qualified Himself as a great layman spiritual teacher as duly acknowledged by those in His audience, who reverently called Him 'Teacher.'

His teachings had a dual purpose: to instruct in spiritual matters, hoping that many pupils would rise to a Teacher Assistant level of proficiency. Therefore, it is quite enlightening to scrutinize His proven teaching methods.

Those who partook to His outdoor classrooms were from all walks of life and at varying levels of spiritual understanding. Therefore, He judiciously made His teachings relatable to each member of the audience. Too much, too soon, cannot be assimilated by spiritual infants who only require liquid nutrition.

Jesus managed to ‘feed all His sheep’ according to their individual needs for spiritual growth. The above quote underlines His cautious approach.

He developed an innovative and attention-getting teaching modality. He delivered power-point—and to-the-point—presentations with the media of colorful parables, telling simple stories to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. As a footnote, He added: “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” Indeed, Histarget audience was explicitly ‘the inquirers’—those demonstrating ‘soul receptivity.' He elaborated on that topic in the Parable of the Sower—the story of a sower who scattered seeds on four different types of soil.

One fact is for sure: Everyone starts as a spiritual babe in need of the thirst-quenching nutrition provided by the Living Waters of Spirit. Over time, after growing a set of teeth, their spiritual appetite becomes heartier, and they long for the heartier sustenance of the Bread of Life.

Many of you are eager to share their epiphanies with others, which is very honorable. However, they are often clumsy in their approach—force-feeding or overfeeding them, which triggers unanticipated allergic reactions that may lead to the total rejection of their well-intentioned efforts.

Jesus subtly gave His audience a SAT—Spiritual Aptitude Test. Based on the results, He constructed His lessons, and everyone got something out of them.

To this day, you can vastly expand your spiritual understanding by reflecting upon His educational parables. You will get to peel their many layers one by one, diving deeper into their truth content—a truth to be wisely and lovingly meted out to others, thus feeding a multitude with fresh morsels of Jesus’ home-baked loaf of His reputable Bread of Life—some predilecting the crust, other the crumb.”