Many famous speeches start quietly and build with drama to a rousing ending. They engage the audience.
Eg. Churchill’s -We will fight them on the beaches. We will fight them in the cities. We will never surrender!
A speaker can also tell a story from a quiet start to a shocking ending
Eg. He slept in. He stubbed his toe. Then he crashed his car.
Jesus seems to have spoken quietly but sometimes built up to a dramatic surprise.
One common phrasing he uses shows this building. He speaks matter of factly then adds a surprising revelation at the end, ‘verily I say unto you’.
He that heareth my word and believeth hath everlasting life, shall not enter into condemnation
If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever
Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him ruler over all that he hath
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life
this is the will of him that sent me – that everyone which believeth on him may have everlasting life
Verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me
whosoever shall say “Thou fool” shall be in danger of hell fire
The topper
A good speaker builds up expectation of an ending, then makes a surprise one instead -the punchline.
A great speaker goes from that punchline to one more element, the final joke or ‘topper’.
It is like topping on the cake. Eg.I wouldn’t date him if he was the last man on earth. Unless I was lonely.
Jesus does not always make jokes but the topper is a clever way to give the audience another element to consider.
everyone shall be scattered and leave me alone and yet I am not alone. The Father is with me
He brought him to an inn, took care of him and said to the hos.t When I come again I will repay thee
he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him
I am the door. If any man enter he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture
I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loveth you
it growth up, becometh greater than all herbs, shooteth branches so the fowls of the air lodge
it is neither fit for the land, not yet for the dunghill. But men cast it out
Lazarus was laid at his gate full of sores, desiring crumbs and the dogs came and licked his sores
the works that I do, shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do
There is no man that hath left house for the kingdom’s sake who shall not receive more in the present
they bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, some an hundred
Speech Style of Jesus 