No Sudent is Above Their Teacher - Matthew 10:24-26
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
Reflection: It is always important to interpret every verse of the bible in accordance with its context. The rule in biblical interpretation is context, context, context! Therefore it is rather easy to interpret this verse in the context of Jesus preparing his disciples that they would be persecuted just like he was. He uses an illustration for his own context of teachers and masters (literally slave owners). When someone signed up to be a student of a teacher, their whole lives were dedicated to following that person. They followed them around and not only listened to them, but did what they said. This is where we get the term disciple. Slaves had given up their rights to serve their master. Good masters treated their slaves well and provided for them and this was a part of the first century economy.
So Jesus uses this context to teach the disciples that they would suffer like he did, if they were to become his followers. And they did not yet know exactly what that would mean because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. In today's world I think we look at student more in intellectual terms. Our modern education system, although change is on the horizon, is largely predicated on students hearing lectures and reading books with the goal of being able to regurgitate information on a test. If a student was good at this and disciplined and strong intellectually, they can get straight a's and get in to the best colleges.
But Jesus saw education more in terms of apprenticeship, where a student followed a teacher and was able to DO all the teacher could do not just have the right answers. So we see in the church the great need to educate people in the Christian life in terms of not just head knowledge, but heart and will knowledge. People experience truth not just by knowing it but by doing it and experiencing it. It is only as we too suffer for Christ as we follow him will any of this make sense.
Where is God calling you to step out and trust Him and obey even if it could cost you something? The great need in the church today is not members of the church in name only, but those willing to do whatever Jesus would ask of them. We begin Lent this Wednesday in the traditional churches with a service called Ash Wednesday. Lent is a good time for you to reflect on how your teacher Jesus is calling you to follow Him, remembering no student is above his teacher.
Jesus teach us how to follow you not just with words but with actions that model how you loved and lived in this world. Amen.
Reflection: It is always important to interpret every verse of the bible in accordance with its context. The rule in biblical interpretation is context, context, context! Therefore it is rather easy to interpret this verse in the context of Jesus preparing his disciples that they would be persecuted just like he was. He uses an illustration for his own context of teachers and masters (literally slave owners). When someone signed up to be a student of a teacher, their whole lives were dedicated to following that person. They followed them around and not only listened to them, but did what they said. This is where we get the term disciple. Slaves had given up their rights to serve their master. Good masters treated their slaves well and provided for them and this was a part of the first century economy.
So Jesus uses this context to teach the disciples that they would suffer like he did, if they were to become his followers. And they did not yet know exactly what that would mean because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. In today's world I think we look at student more in intellectual terms. Our modern education system, although change is on the horizon, is largely predicated on students hearing lectures and reading books with the goal of being able to regurgitate information on a test. If a student was good at this and disciplined and strong intellectually, they can get straight a's and get in to the best colleges.
But Jesus saw education more in terms of apprenticeship, where a student followed a teacher and was able to DO all the teacher could do not just have the right answers. So we see in the church the great need to educate people in the Christian life in terms of not just head knowledge, but heart and will knowledge. People experience truth not just by knowing it but by doing it and experiencing it. It is only as we too suffer for Christ as we follow him will any of this make sense.
Where is God calling you to step out and trust Him and obey even if it could cost you something? The great need in the church today is not members of the church in name only, but those willing to do whatever Jesus would ask of them. We begin Lent this Wednesday in the traditional churches with a service called Ash Wednesday. Lent is a good time for you to reflect on how your teacher Jesus is calling you to follow Him, remembering no student is above his teacher.
Jesus teach us how to follow you not just with words but with actions that model how you loved and lived in this world. Amen.
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