A Student and His Teacher

Chuckle: "We have a group of preachers in our town who bowl. They call themselves "Holy Rollers!"

Good Quote: “A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.” --Patricia Neal

"A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40 NIV).

All of us are familiar with the relationships between students and teachers. However, when it comes to our being the students and Jesus being the teacher, we all have much to learn. Take a look at these passages and let them sink into your heart.

"Let this mind be in you that is also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5 KJV), "As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34 NIV), "I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him." (John 13:16 NIV), "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" (John 13:13 NIV).

From these passages, what is Jesus trying to teach us? There is no question that he was revealing his goal of making us like himself in every way. He wants us to follow his example by thinking like him, loving others like him, acting like him in our relationships, and acknowledging him as our Master Teacher.

I think these messages are relatively easy to understand. However, there's a message here that may not be as obvious to us. The first phrase in Luke 6:40 is also found in Matthew 10:24a, and was used by Jesus to warn his disciples that they could not expect to receive better treatment than their Master received. He never let them forget what it would cost to follow him. Whoa! What's this? Do you mean that, as a Christian, I should expect to suffer as Jesus suffered, to be ridiculed as he was ridiculed, to be shunned as he was shunned, and to be abandoned by those close to me as Jesus was abandoned. . . .?

As our mind (attitude) becomes like Jesus; as our actions become like Jesus; as we exhibit Christlike characteristics in our lives, we have learned to let Jesus live through us. When we become "fully taught," we will reflect Jesus in everything we do. When this happens, we must expect others to react to us in the same way people reacted to Jesus. Are you ready for that?

I think we are often guilty of wanting to live the Christian life while leaving all the suffering and dying to Jesus. In other words, we put ourselves above our Lord by our unwillingness to suffer for him as he suffered for us. However, there is nothing that will draw us nearer to our Lord than when we are called upon to suffer for (with) him. The apostle Paul understood this truth when he said, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering, becoming like him in death" (Philippians 3:10 NIV). Paul wanted to know his Lord so intimately that he welcomed opportunity to suffer with him as a means of drawing even closer to him. How do you feel about suffering for your Lord?

"The disciple who perfectly understands the rules and sees the example of his Master, will think it his business to tread exactly in his steps, to do and suffer upon like occasions, as his master did: and so he will be like his master." --Whitby

Love, Jerry & Dotse