… but the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up, so that everyone believing in him may have everlasting life.” (John 3:13, 14)
Jesus usually spoke of himself in the third person; instead of, “I will be killed,” he said, “the Son of man must be lifted up.” (John 3:14) Instead of “wine” he mentioned “the product of the vine.” (Mark 14:25) Why did he use such complicated language? Did he want to imitate those who think they would “get a hearing for their use of many words?” (Matthew 6:7) No, the actual reason was the following: “I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, so that … they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11, 12, NLT) Thus Jesus intentionally used intricate “parables” so that the people would not understand him and not believe in him, and he would not have to save them on the day of judgment.
Christians of today must ‘imitate Jesus’ expert preaching methods,’ of course. (The Watchtower, June 1, 1997, page 29) Hence we should no longer use the simple suggestions from the Reasoning book but rather prepare a sophisticated presentation. Instead of, “I’m looking for people who would like to live in a world free from war,” we could say, for example: “The Son of man was sent by the faithful and discreet slave to look for those who are deserving it because they have the right inclination of the heart by sighing and groaning and longing for a system of things in which nation will no longer rise against nation and kingdom and against kingdom, but in which humans will give up their animallike characteristics and will for time indefinite dwell together and not do any harm or cause any ruin in all God’s holy mountain, just like the mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken.”
Rather than, “We’ve been talking with your neighbors about what can be done to assure that there will be employment and housing for everyone,” we could use the following introduction: “The Son of man and the one walking near him want to confront all redeemable mankind that came into existence at Abel’s birth with a question of universal importance, that is, how can it be achieved that all human creatures of God always have plenty to do and have a place to lay down their heads, so that they can rest from their labors in all the places where the Lord has dispersed them?” If we choose our words carefully, we will preach in a way that no one does what we say. Then Jehovah can destroy more humans at Armageddon, Jesus needs to save fewer people, and we will have more space in paradise!
The Alternative Daily Text 