“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.” John 13:13
That Jesus is a teacher is perhaps the least disputable claim about himself he ever made. Even today, most people will recognize that Jesus was a great teacher. Even from a young age, Jesus was known to have unusual understanding of the Scriptures. As a boy, he became separated from his parents on a family trip to Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph couldn’t find him! Imagine how scared they must have been to be searching for him for three days!
When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Luke 2:45-47
In his child-like thinking, he couldn’t understand why his parents didn’t know where he was. “Didn’t you know I was in my Father’s house?”, he would ask.
He grew into adulthood living what must have been a quiet, respectable life in Galilee, probably not that different than the community around him. Until he came to John the Baptist. That was the beginning of his mission which would lead to the cross. It was a mission which began with the favor of the people.
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. Luke 4:14-22
And here we have what has always been a natural way of responding to Jesus as a teacher. Those things a teacher says which we agree with, we can accept and admire. However, whatever does not sit well with us, we are free to reject. It was just after this reading that Jesus came into conflict with the community he grew up in. He was proclaiming “good news” which they welcomed at first because it was pleasant to hear. Then, they began to ask themselves – Isn’t this Joseph’s son? He isn’t anyone special. As they rejected and questioned Jesus’s right to proclaim this fulfillment of scripture, Jesus responded that no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. The people were so mad they were going to throw him off a cliff! How quickly opinion changes.
When exploring the life and claims of Jesus, the very first thing we need to determine is if he is a mere teacher or something more. Jesus would ask his disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16
Jesus was a teacher. He is a teacher. But if he is only a teacher, it is not enough to “proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” That kind of powerful change does not come through ideas on right living or how to treat one another. The change that Jesus was proclaiming was one that was coming in power and might of the Spirit of God. We are still left with the same choice as those in his hometown. We can question whether Jesus is worth following or believing, especially if he seems dull and familiar and ordinary from long years of familiarity. Or, we can get excited because he has come to proclaim liberty and favor to those who accept him as who HE claims to be…the claims we will look at together in the days ahead.
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