S18P5 – The Characters of God: our teacher

Matt. 23:8, 10
But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

These are the words of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He is God the Son, fully divine and fully eternal. When He speaks of us having only one teacher or one instructor, He is speaking of the origin of truth and knowledge. This is a reference to the source of all things a person is able to pass on to another person. God created it all and knows it all. He is the author and designer of how to live correctly according to his will. There is nothing we can teach one another that is not first learned from God

We have one teacher, and that is Jesus Christ. Through him all things were made [John 1:3]. When He teaches us about creation, his teaching comes from the source of that creation. When He teaches us about love, his teaching comes from the source of love. When He teaches us about mercy, his teaching comes from the source of mercy. The list is endless. And when He uses us to teach others, He is still the one doing the teaching. And if He is the teacher, that means that we are his students. We are to study him and what He shows us so that we may be fully trained. And when we are fully trained, we will be like him [Luke 6:40].

I think we can all agree that the best teachers are the ones who do it for the students and not for themselves. These are the teachers who live to see the great change that knowledge and wisdom can bring to a person’s life. We have this kind of teacher. He knows the infinite benefit that comes with his teaching, and He desires that we should attain it. Lord, continue to mold us into good and faithful students, relying on You for our teaching as the creator of all things and desiring to be fully trained into your likeness.