p. 3 | CHRIST AS A TEACHER by Mrs. A. E. Daniels

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 1, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 35.

CHRIST AS A TEACHER.

By Mrs. A. E. Daniels

THIS is a subject which should be studied deeply and reverently by every child of God; for in studying Christ as a Teacher we instinctively study His teachings. Upon the teachings of Christ is Christianity founded, and without them we should not have material with which to construct our Christian character.

Not only did Christ teach those with whom He was associated in this life, but, thanks be unto God, through His holy Word those divine precepts and that perfect example have come down to us, and to-day they stand out as boldly as tho our Lord were living among us in the flesh. He speaks to us by the Spirit as distinctly as tho it were the human voice of the Lord saying, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Christ taught in a twofold manner. Not only did He “speak as never man spake,” and the people “were astonished at His doctrine; for His word was with power,” but by His life He so beautifully exemplified His precepts that when we compare His words with the way in which He fulfilled them in deed, they blend harmoniously into one grand lesson. From His teachings and living we are to mold our lives. Thus He teaches us to be not only hearers of the Word but doers as well.

If we consider Christ as a teacher in word only, we should have to begin at His baptism by John when He was thirty years old. But by His birth He became a Teacher of some of the grandest lessons of His life. Did He not by simply coming into the world teach us of the great love of the Father for us? Thus He proclaimed in deed what He afterward taught by word: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” His birth also teaches of His perfect obedience to the will of the Father, and that that obedience was prompted by love, thus proving the truthfulness of the teaching, “That the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.”

Likewise at His birth as well as by His life He became the only perfect Example of self-sacrifice the world has ever received. Leaving the grandeur and splendors of heaven, that glorious kingdom where He received the adoration and ministration of angels and shared the glory of the Father, He came in the flesh to this sin-cursed earth, knowing that He should be despised and rejected of men, should suffer and die, that poor, fallen man might be redeemed. His life from the cradle to the tomb was one long-continued teaching of self-sacrifice. Well might He say to us after having given Himself for us, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Christ was a very humble Teacher, seeking neither position wealth, nor fame. At His birth and by His life He taught us humility; He who could have come with far greater splendor than any king of earth possessed, chose for His first shelter a stable, for His first bed a manger, for His companions the poor and lowly, and thus exemplified His teaching, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant,” and “he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Another beautiful illustration of His humility is shown us in His baptism by John. John said, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to Me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Is there any wonder that the Father rewarded such humble obedience by proclaiming with His own voice from heaven, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”?

How beautifully are we taught to resist temptation by His forty days’ fast in the wilderness! Well may we exclaim with Paul, “We have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Christ was a constant and faithful Teacher. After His temptation in the wilderness, He began His career as a public teacher and preacher. When they sought His life because of His teachings in one city, He fled to another. Whenever and wherever opportunity presented itself, in public or in private, He taught. To the multitude was delivered that grand, wonderful Sermon on the Mount, in which He proclaimed so many blessings on the faithful, and exhorted to good works; He instructed Nicodemus alone by night, and everywhere His loved disciples fed on His gracious words; “and He taught daily in the temple.”

He was a patient Teacher. With what patience He explained to His disciples the parables which their closed ears could not understand! “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” We can clearly see the golden thread of patience running all through His life and teachings. What

a loving teacher! and what a tender care He showed for His pupils! When the multitudes followed to hear Him, He “was moved with compassion toward them,” and He healed their sick. And when they continued with Him, He had compassion on them and fed them. How lovingly He taught us to rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep, by rejoicing with His disciples and by weeping at the grave of Lazarus! How His great heart yearned over Jerusalem as He prophesied of its destruction! And His love for us is shown in that “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” and “by His stripes we are healed.”

He was “no respecter of persons,” but presented the same truths to rich and poor, high and low, learned and unlearned, alike, thus proving that “there is no difference,” and “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

One of Christ’s favorite methods of teaching was by parables or allegories, from which morals were drawn. How simply and yet how truthfully did He portray the presenting of the Word, and the way in which it would be received, by the parables of the sower and the seed; then, how the work of Satan is accomplished, by the sowing of the tares among the wheat; the spreading of the kingdom, by leaven hid in the meal; the value of eternal life, by the pearl of great price. His object lessons from nature showed God’s care for His children by referring to the ravens that are fed; the lilies of the field that are clothed; and the mystery of the working of God’s Spirit in the heart of man, by the blowing of the wind.

He taught with a force that everywhere had its effect in the hearts of His hearers. “He taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” And “the people were astonished at His doctrine,” and were forced to exclaim, “Whence hath this Man this wisdom, and these mighty works?”

Jesus often proved the truth of His teachings by the miracles and wonderful works which were given Him of God to do. While God gave Him these wonderful works, yet was He meek, and continually in word and life taught meekness. Some even deny His divinity because He called Himself the Son of man; but who can read of His crucifixion and resurrection and doubt that He was also divine? Darkness covered the land for three hours. “The veil of the temple was rent in twain; . . . and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

No, we must exclaim with the centurion, “Truly this was the Son of God.” He was the Christ, teaching us meekness, love, and obedience, obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. Let us then, dear readers, continue our studies of Christ as a teacher. Study to obey His teachings. Let us “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Let us tell others of Him, praying that the time may speedily come which has been promised, when “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

MRS. A. E. DANIELS.

St. Louis, Mo.