The Master Teacher

MEMORY VERSE: “Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.” —Psalm 25:4

MATTHEW 5:17-20; 7:24-29; 13:33-35

THE Apostle Paul in Hebrews 1:1, 2 states, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” And in Hebrews 2:1 he continues, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

Jesus, before the age of thirty, in his perfection of mind, had a complete knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, but as a man the hidden things of God were not revealed to him. These were the mysteries of God “which in other ages [were] … not made known unto the sons of men.” (Eph. 3:5) The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 2:14 states the matter thus, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

When Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized, we read that when John immersed him and he came up out of the water, “the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.” (Matt. 3:16) It was here that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit, and its effulgent effect upon his mind had a most profound influence upon his life. As Mark puts it, “And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.” (Mark 1:12) And it was here in solitude that Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit, was able to consolidate in his mind the entire plan of God as it pertained to man; and more than this, he was able to discern his role as the center of that plan.

In Isaiah 59:20,21 the Prophet speaks of Jesus and his footstep followers: “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever.”

This wonderful promise applies not only to Jesus but to all his footstep followers who, like Jesus, have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and its resultant enlightenment of mind. But this privilege is not without responsibilities. Jesus was commissioned to make known the words that God had put in his mouth. The Prophet Isaiah says of Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” (Isa. 61:1) This, too, is the commission of all the footstep followers of the Master.

When we consider how long the Jews, as a people, had been subjected to the pious hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and the unscriptural precepts of men that they taught, is it any wonder that the people were amazed at the teachings of Jesus? In Matthew 7:28,29 the account reads, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

And so Jesus, with the authority of God, preached the words that had been given to him. His message to the Jews was to announce the end of the Jewish Age and the Law Covenant to believers, and the beginning of a new dispensation of grace, referred to by him as the kingdom of heaven.

This was a difficult message for the Jews, steeped in prejudice and tradition; but Jesus, the Master teacher, with unmatched eloquence, perfection of logic, and the lofty precepts of God, was able to gather a remnant from Israel and become the most influential teacher of men that ever lived.

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