Some people think they’re being kind when they say Jesus was a good teacher. But this misses the point. As C.S. Lewis once said, Jesus himself did not give us the option of being “just a good teacher.” He made astonishing claims which, if not true, would make him a liar and a deceiver. Of course, that’s exactly what his enemies accused him of.
No, more than a good teacher, Jesus was a master teacher, a brilliant rabbi, and the greatest of all. He backed up everything he said with godly wisdom and miracles. It’s been said that if Jesus hadn’t really lived, it would be impossible to make him up.
He parried and thrusted with the Pharisees and teachers of Israel with pure godly reason and Scriptural logic. All the while he demonstrated his divine power with miracles. He was teaching them something they could barely imagine; that he is the Messiah and Son of God, the Word made flesh.
The Gospel of John shows the growing conflict of Jesus with the religious leaders more clearly than the other three gospels. The conflict is climaxed with the raising of Lazarus from the dead! A man who had been dead four days! When Jesus made claims to deity, they tried to arrest him once and tried to stone him twice! But they could only take him when He allowed them to. Far from a situation getting “out of control”, Jesus was always in control!
We pray that our lives today are under the Master’s control. We can be if we yield to Him and trust him. Satan can harass us, but we are never out of Jesus’ control. The world can bring us down, but Jesus lifts us up! Politicians can disappoint us every day, but Jesus is the ultimate Truth above all politics and opinions of men. (That’s what he said to Pilate!) God’s plan will ultimately be done in our lives if we surrender to Him!
Lord, help us surrender to you and be lifted up. Help us to remember when things are against us, that they are not falling apart, but falling into place! Thank you that we have our needs met in Jesus and that he offers us abundant life, more rich and satisfying than anything without him. Help us to sit at the feet of our brilliant rabbi more often and be taught by his wonderful words of life! Thank you for his wisdom. Thank you for miracles he is still doing today through his people.
Thank you for helping us turn our eyes away from the world and looking fresh into the face of Jesus! “Jesus your name is power, Jesus your name is might, Jesus your name above every other, Jesus your name is life!” (Song by Morris Chapman and Claire Cloninger.)