Who is our Teacher?

By Linda and Tom

“But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:8-12

I have to confess something. Years ago when I read the above scripture I only “saw” one part: “And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” I think it was because Tom was raised Catholic so I picked up on the “father” part and wondered why, since it so clearly states “do not call anyone on earth 'father”, they opted to call their priests “father”?? That just seemed so strange to me… hadn’t they read this scripture??

But, fast forward a few years, I realized that I was just as guilty of not reading the scripture because that is not all this scripture is saying!! Apparently God, being “God”, knew what we would end up doing as a church and he warned us against it ahead of time! The Catholic Church isn’t the only ones who missed this scripture. Don’t we as believers call our Pastors, Leaders and Ministers “teachers”? Don’t we look to THEM for our insight into God? Apparently the Catholic Church isn’t the only ones who missed this!

Just to make sure I was understanding what Jesus was saying, I looked up the words Jesus said NOT to call people to get a better feel for His meaning. Here are the definitions for the words from the concordance:

Rabbi = Of Hebrew origin with pronominal suffix; my master, that is, Rabbi, as an official title of honor: - Master, Rabbi.

Father = apparently a primary word; a “father” (literally or figuratively, near or more remote): - father, parent.

Teacher = a guide, that is, (figuratively) a teacher: - master.

(Just as a side note, I was raised Hindu for a few years and was taught to call the Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, “Master” when I prayed to him. DOH! I find this so interesting that the very words Jesus said NOT to use are being used by different religious groups!)

So, going back to the above scripture, I think the key statement Jesus makes is “…for you have only one Master and you are all brothers…”! His point being that we are all equals and on the same “level”. We are not to be above or below each other, although we can be ahead or behind someone on our journey’s road. Another reason we should look to God as our Teacher is that we are all human and broken and we see things through very different “filters”, and if we look to one another to be taught, won’t we lead each other astray? I know I am guilty of that!! I don’t mean that we shouldn’t share our testimony or experiences on our journey with the Lord, that is good stuff and it helps and encourages us. Jesus even calls us to be “witnesses” (Acts 1:8) but there is a big difference between “witnessing/sharing” what I have personally experienced or learned and imparting the experiential “knowledge” of God.  When a person teaches it is “gnosis”, which is intelligence or head knowledge. What the Spirit teaches is “Epignosis” which is experiential knowledge (“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” Job 42:5 …“Taste and see that the LORD is good” Psalm 34:8). Paul prays that the Holy Spirit will give us the “knowledge” of God (Colossians 1:9 and Ephesians 1:15-19). And He is the only one who CAN do that. We, as a body and individual believers should look to God alone to reveal Himself to us so that we can truly “know” Him (Epignosis), and not just “know about” Him (Gnosis).

Just so you don’t think I am making all this stuff up, here are some scriptures I found of Jesus confirming who our Teacher should be:

“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." Luke 12:11-12 (see also Matthew 10:19-20)

“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” Mark 13:11

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me…” John 6:44-48 (“All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace.” Isaiah 54:13)

 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29

“… These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:24-26

(Did you catch that?? Let’s read that last part again: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”)

“However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all Truth; for He will not speak things originating from Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will make known to you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will receive from what is Mine and make it known to you.” John 16:13-14

Here is another scripture in 1 John:

“I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.” 1 John 2:26-27

I think we have all have fallen into a trap of looking to each other to be taught rather than looking to God! Jesus tells us in the above scriptures that we need to look to the Holy Spirit (ultimately it is God) for our teaching, understanding and knowledge. He didn’t say for us to set up a hierarchy, or look to each other, placing the more educated over the less educated.

 I believe the trap we have fallen into is what Jesus mentions in this scripture:

“Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:25-27 (see also Mark 10:42-45 and Luke 22:25-27)

Have we become more like “the rulers of the Gentiles” and taken up the world’s ways, placing ourselves above one another and “exercising authority” over each other?? He says “NOT SO WITH YOU…” Yet… isn’t that what we have become?? Aren’t we told that our “leaders” have authority over us? Don’t they claim to be our “covering”? Jesus demonstrated a “Bottom up leadership model, not a top down one “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,” We need to lead by serving and not serve by leading. (“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12)

Here are a couple more scriptures to consider. In 1 Corinthians and Galatians Paul is saying that he was NOT taught by any man but by the “Spirit of Jesus”. And he made it his mission to tell people about Jesus so they too could learn from Jesus themselves, through the Spirit, about who God is.

“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God... I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power…-- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit…  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:11-12

In conclusion, this is “my” understanding, and can even say my experience, of who our Teacher should be, but I want to encourage you to seek, and to ask God for yourself if these words are true! Don’t just take my word for it :)

“You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” John 13:13-17

I want to echo Paul’s prayer for us all: “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:15-19

Father, I thank you that you have given us everything we need for life and godliness and You are fully able to teach, guide and direct us when we look to You for all things, but especially when we seek to KNOW You and love You with ALL of our hearts. With all my love, your daughter, Linda :)