Year 6, Day 274: Malachi 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

In the opening section of Malachi 2, we hear harsh words of judgment from God.  He promises to take the Hebrew people and turn them into rubbish.  He promises to curse them.  In fact, He actually promises to curse their blessing!  That’s a pretty steep condemnation!

Why does God give this condemnation?  The problem starts with the spiritual leaders.  They aren’t teaching people in the ways of the Lord.  The priest’s job is to guard knowledge and the people should seek it from him.  That just wasn’t happening.  The people were falling away from the Lord and the priests weren’t doing their job in reminding the people to pursue righteous living.

We don’t really know the exact offense of the priests.  It could be that the priests were teaching the wrong thing.  They could have been teaching people to live unrighteously.  They could have been justifying wrong behavior.  On the other hand, they could have just not been teaching at all.  They might not have been doing the wrong job, they could have been doing no job at all!  Both are offenses against good teaching.

From this, what can we say about a good teacher?  A good teacher is one who upholds the ways of the Lord.  A good teacher reminds people what righteous living looks like.  A good teacher is one who is willing to do his job and is excited b the possibility of doing the job.

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Year 6, Day 187: Matthew 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

Ever since I was a little boy, I wondered if Jesus’ disciples were really dense.  How many of us don’t understand the parable of the soils or the parable of the weeds?  Of course we do!  We’ve been taught these parables since before we can remember.

That’s actually an issue for us.  Because Jesus taught in this manner, our own pastors and spiritual leaders imitate Him and teach in this manner.  So when we get to passages like this, we have been trained to think about symbolism and analogy and we quickly sort through the information and arrive at the answer.

This didn’t happen with Jesus and is disciples.  Jesus took fishermen and tax collectors and other basic people and taught them.  They weren’t religiously trained.  This is actually why Jesus teaches in parables.  By using parables, He is teaching His disciples to think more and more abstractly and make connections that are not obvious to everyone else.

There’s a really neat side-effect to this as well.  When Jesus teaches in parables, He can sift through the listeners and figure out who it is that is really paying attention and who is just along for the ride.  He can hear the questions from the people who are asking questions.  He can see the people who come and listen and leave without asking questions.

Looking at this chapter, we see what it really means to be a teacher.  A teacher takes opportunities when they are presented.  A teacher causes people to start with the known and probe into the unknown.  A teacher sees any opportunity as an opportunity to sift through those around them and discern who is truly looking to listen and learn.

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Year 6, Day 170: Ezekiel 44

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

In the midst of all of these chapters on measurements and the temple, we have a really neat mention of the Levites of Zadok.  Notice that the majority of the Levites are called out because of their rebellion.  The majority of the Levites are reprimanded – yet forgiven – because they chased after foreign idols.  But the Levites of Zadok’s family are commended for their faithfulness.

What is it that these Levites are called to do?  They are the only group of Levites that are allowed to participate in the sacrificial aspect of the temple.  But what I want to look at in this post is verse 23.  They are called to teach the people the difference between clean and unclean.  They are to teach the people right from wrong.

There is an important lesson here.  Everyone can learn from mistakes.  Everyone can be forgiven.  But if you are looking to learn from someone, learn from someone who can be counted on to get it right.  Learn from someone who demonstrates that they know right from wrong.  Don’t just listen to people who talk a good talk.  Imitate people who readily apply the good walk to their own life.  Let those people be the teachers in your life.

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Year 6, Day 125: James 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

I love how James connects the ideas of the teacher and the tongue.  Of course, he begins with the thought that not many should become teachers.  Yes, he is right.  Only those with wisdom should teach.  Only those who bear fruit comparable to their teaching should teach.  Nobody will follow a hypocrite.  So only those who can live without being blatantly hypocritical should even think about teaching.

But then James talks about the tongue.  The tongue needs tamed, but we are not capable of doing so.  This is another great thought to consider when we talk about teachers.  How do teachers teach?  They teach with their tongues.  They teach with their words and their thoughts.  If a teacher does not have their tongue under control, how will they be able to teach?  If a teacher cannot be relied upon to say what is true all the time, how can they be trusted any of the time?

Teachers need to be in control of their tongue.  If teachers want to be a part of helping others bear good fruit, then they need to make sure that their tongue only speaks that which can produce good fruit.  Outside of faith, which is given by God anyways, the tongue is the most important tool in the arsenal of the teacher.  It needs to be tamed and fine-tuned.

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Year 5, Day 342: Ecclesiastes 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

In my blog post from three years ago, I focused a lot on the first section of this chapter.  Today, I’d like to focus on the end.  In fact, what really inspired me today is the part about the words of the wise being like goads and the collected sayings are like nails firmly fixed.  This leads me to the teachers in my life.

Let’s take the easier one: nails firmly fixed.  Wise sayings – otherwise known as proverbs – are reliable.  They are true.  They lead us into good choices because they have been tested throughout time and human culture.  They are firm fixtures that we can rest upon and know we will find wisdom.  They are fixtures in our life that can support our faith and worldview.

The harder one is the words of the wise: goads.  A goad is something that is designed to provoke a reaction.  A goad is something that is designed to spur someone forward.  Goads are designed to make us uncomfortable.  So what are the words of wisdom?  They are words that when we hear them we feel uncomfortable.  We feel uncomfortable because we know that we should change.

So, what is the role of the teacher and the wisdom that comes from sound teaching?  In this chapter we hear that the teacher makes us uncomfortable.  Their words push us just beyond our comfort zone.  But they are also fixtures in our life.  They are reliable because their words are tested.

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Year 5, Day 276: Psalm 135-136

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

Psalm 135 and Psalm 136 are largely teaching psalms.  If we look at their content, they are psalms which look back into history in order to see the Lord’s hand at work.  Both of these psalms talk about how God has saved His people through the Exodus story.  Psalm 136 also talks about God’s hand at work in creation.  These are psalms designed to teach us about God and His work in the world.

However, these psalms are not just designed for our education.  If we hear about God’s hand and work and are simply content with the information then we have done a great disservice to the teacher – and more importantly to God!  The point of teaching other people about God is to give God praise.  In fact, that is the point of our being alive, period.  We are here to bring praise to God.

That is why these psalms are great examples of the process of teaching.  Clearly the psalmist is lifting up the work of the Lord in the presence of his listeners.  These psalms do teach us about what God has done in the past so that we can have hope for His hand to be at work in the future.  But most importantly, these psalms teach us about God so that we can lift up His name and glorify it.

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Year 5, Day 247: Psalm 119

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

Psalm 119 is a teacher’s psalm.  There is so much going on in this psalm that pairs with everything that a teacher is all about.  But it all begins with God’s Word.  The teacher looks to learn from God’s Word and bring the application of God’s Word into the lives of the people around them.  That is the point of this psalm.

If we look at this psalm, we can see one incredible pattern.  Each stanza begins with a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet.  All eight verses in each stanza begin with that letter.  What that means is that this psalm is designed for learning the Hebrew alphabet.  It is also designed to aid in memorization.  This truly is a teaching psalm.

Furthermore, if we look at the main thrust of each stanza, we see that the Word of God is at the heart of this psalm.  You can look at my theological commentary from 3 years ago for a more detailed explanation.  But in this psalm we are told about the memorization of God’s Word.  We are told about the righteousness of God’s Word.  We are told about how God’s Word can impact our life.  This psalm is all about bringing God’s Word into our life.

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Year 5, Day 214: Psalms 77-78

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

Psalm 77 is a great psalm, but it is much like the psalms we saw yesterday about God and His greatness as king over this incredible world.  What is different than yesterday’s psalms is that psalm 77 contains an honest reflection on how the psalmist relates to God.  He confesses that He feels abandoned by God.  He confesses that he moans when he thinks about God.  But He does not stay there.  He remembers what God has done and his attitude receives the correction hat it needs.

Of course, this is a great introduction to psalm 78.  In Psalm 78 the psalmist recounts God’s interaction with His people from their beginnings in Canaan to their struggles in Egypt to their wanderings in the wilderness.  In Psalm 78 we have a great summary of the history of God’s work and the people’s relationship with Him.  We see the faithfulness of God.  We see the repeated rebellion of the people.  We see how God did not forsake but rather judged, corrected, and loved.

Psalm 78 and psalms like it are important psalms for the community.  When we remember the past we can learn through it.  When we know the pitfalls of those who came before us we can hopefully avoid repeating them!  Having a communal understanding of the past inherently leads us to a better future.

This is one of the reasons why it is important to have teachers in our midst.  Teachers remind us about truth, and one of the primary ways that we are taught truth is by looking into the lives of those who came before us.  Teachers take the lessons of the past and help apply them to the present.  That is exactly what the psalmist is trying to do here.  He wants the people around him to remember the past, to remember the faithfulness of God, and to learn what lessons they can about themselves.

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Year 5, Day 159: Mark 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

This is a really neat passage through which we can see the lens of the teacher.  After all, this whole chapter is made up of some of Jesus’ last teachings.  What makes this chapter unique, though, is the variety of contexts in which we see Jesus teaching in such a short time.  Jesus talks to the crowd, Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, scribes, and His disciples.  There is one constant through all of the teachings: Jesus is focused on God’s truth and not the approval of mankind.

When Jesus speaks to the crowd, He teaches them about what happens when people do not respect the family of the land-owner.  In other words, Jesus is teaching the crowd what God thinks of those people who do not respect His own Son.  Given that this teaching comes less than a week before Jesus dies at the hands of the religious leaders, it is poignant indeed.  In teaching this, Jesus is seeking truth – even if it gets Him killed.

When the Pharisees and Herodians come against Him, we see Jesus once more focus on the truth.  He refuses to be trapped.  The Pharisees want Jesus to answer with the answer that taxes to Rome are unnecessary so that the Herodians would get mad and there would be justification for His death.  The Herodians wanted Jesus to say that taxes should be respected so that the Pharisees will get mad and have a reason to incite the crowd against Him as a lover of Rome.  But Jesus seeks truth.  He focuses them on the fact that the coin is something made by man.  So there is no conflict between loving God and paying worldly taxes.

The Sadducees come to trap Him.  Jesus sniffs out the truth because He is interested in truth and not pleasing the Sadducees.  He tells them that their focus is wrong.  They want to focus on to whom the woman belongs in the resurrection – which, for the record, the Sadducees didn’t even believe in!  Jesus’ response indicates that they should believe in the resurrection and they should understand that what is important is our relationship with God in the life to come, not our relationship with one another.  Jesus’ interest in the truth trumps the worldly debate of the Pharisees.

With the scribe and the disciples, we finally see how Jesus’ answer gets Him respect.  However, in both cases we see that Jesus once more gives the uncomfortable tough answer even if it is confusing or unpopular.  Jesus reminds the scribe that the greatest commandments are to love God and love neighbor.  In other words, we are supposed to be third in terms of priorities in our own life.  That’s not a popular answer at all, even if it is right.

When it comes to the disciples, Jesus teaches that quality is more important than quantity.  Jesus lifts up the widow who gives next to nothing compared to the wealthy who give much money.  We can’t judge people using world terms.  we can’t count how much they give, how much time they spend in the religious institution, the prestige of the lifestyle that the lead, or how many people have ever heard of them.  This unknown widow who has next to nothing is celebrated by Jesus!  Jesus teaches His disciples that the typical way of evaluating people simply doesn’t work in God’s kingdom.

Jesus is after truth.  He wants the people who are following Him to be after truth as well.  That’s what teachers do.  They lift up the truth, even in the face of crucifixion because of it.

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Year 5, Day 151: Mark 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

In Mark 4 we get a great glimpse of what it looks like to be a teacher.  Here’s the cool thing about this chapter.  In Mark 4 we get to see how Jesus taught the crowds and how Jesus taught His disciples.  And you’ll notice that these two are not the same thing.

In His infinite wisdom, Jesus knows something that has taken me the better part of 40 years to figure out.  You can’t teach large groups intimately.  You can only teach people intimately when you know them well.  When you are teaching people who know of you but who don’t know you well, you can only teach truth generically.

This is why we see Jesus teaching in parables when we see Jesus among the crowd.  Jesus is teaching generic truth because that is what the people will understand from Him.  He uses His opportunity with the crowd to plant seeds of truth that others will be able to take to greater root in depth and bring forth greater harvest.

But the truth is that Jesus doesn’t have the connection with the masses to speak truth deeply into all of their lives.  This is an important point to remember.  Because when we speak both truth and challenge into the lives of people with whom we don’t have the relationship to endure the level of challenge it ends poorly.  People become easily offended when we expose faults without having the relationship to sustain it.  Jesus knows this.  He teaches the crowd differently because of this.

However, when we observe Jesus in situations with His disciples, we see Jesus speaking truth at a very deep and challenging level.  How many times does Jesus challenge His disciples with the idea that their faith is still weak as we see in Mark 4:40?  How often do we hear Jesus tell the disciples that they should be at a point in their life where they are understanding more deeply as we see in Mark 4:13?

Jesus has the relationship with the disciples to push them hard and challenge them.  He has the depth of relationship to expose their failings.  He can teach them more deeply because the depth of the relationship can sustain the revelation of imperfection and the specific areas of change that need to happen in the disciples.

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Year 4, Day 144: Numbers 29

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

As I spoke in my theological commentary, I love how this chapter ends.  Moses receives all of these teachings about sacrifices from God.  And what does he do?  He turns around and teaches them to the people!  And then, of course, he lives it out, too.  This is what it means to be a teacher.

The teacher is concerned about God’s Word being introduced into the lives of the spiritual community.  The teacher is concerned about God’s Word being used to transform the lives of the people within God’s community.  This is exactly what we see Moses doing here.  He hears from God and immediately teaches it to the people.  He lives it out.  He practices what he preaches so that the people can learn from his words and his actions.

But he’s not looking to create carbon copies of himself.  He’s not looking for the glory to rest upon himself.  His goal is to draw other people to God, not himself.  He uses himself as the example, but God is the goal.

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Year 4, Day 84: Exodus 35

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

Although it is a small part of the passage, I think it is worth looking to the end of the passage at Bezalel.  Notice that there are a few things said about this man.  First, he is a skilled craftsman with the ability to grasp vision.  Here is a man capable of putting what God desires into reality.

Notice, however, that this ability has been granted to him by God.  He can do this things because God has empowered him.  God has given him the ability to see and work with what needed to be done.  Bezalel has what he has because it first came from God.

Second, notice that with Bezalel he is not just a craftsman.  He is a teacher.  He doesn’t care only to do; He also cares to teach others to do with him.  For Bezalel, doing is one thing.  It is another thing to teach others to do alongside of himself.

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