REV. April 2007                 
A Prayer
of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise
and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will

The Teacher

By Edgar Jones


We concern ourselves with only one category of persons -- those that are, or seek to become, disciples of Jesus of Nazareth who is the sole authorized teacher of the things of God.  What follows applies to them and to no others.  By definition, a disciple is a pupil, a student, a learner.  A disciple of Jesus is one who is a pupil in the school of Jesus, a student of Jesus, and a learner from Jesus.  A disciple of Jesus has no teacher of the things of God other than Jesus.  Anyone who has any other teacher is a disciple of that other teacher and does not qualify as a disciple of Jesus.

Consequently, in speaking to those whom he has called to be his disciples, he  identifies himself, to them, as their teacher:
13 You call me the teacher and the Lord, and you say well, for I am.

Then he also said to them:

Matthew 23
8 But do not be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, and all of you are brothers.

It follows that among those who are, or would be, disciples of Jesus that they have only one teacher.  None among them are to be called "Rabbi," which means "teacher" and they are every one at the same level: brothers.  They have only the one teacher because that is a qualification set up by the teacher for all of his disciples.  If you apply this status to others, The Lord will not teach you.  If you accept this status, you are exalting yourself and you will be humbled.


I. The Question of Status

Rabbi (Matthew 23:9) comes from Hebrew and Aramaic words that mean much and great.  Applied to an individual, it is a title of respect and subservience.  Therefore we find Jesus pairing it with lord in John 13:13 above.  The same comparison appears in this utterance:

Matthew 10
24 A disciple is not above his teacher nor a slave above his Lord.

We learn
from this that, in the mind of Jesus, the distinction "disciple - teacher" is comparable to that of "slave - lord."  It should not surprise us, then, that when we follow the context of Matthew 23:8 above, we come to this:

11 But the greater of you will be your servant. 12 But whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Whoever claims or assumes or accepts the title 'teacher,' or claims to be a teacher of the things of God, therefore exalts himself or herself to the high position that only Jesus rightly occupies.  Both title and function are included (with two exceptions), since the title is the Lord's alone and it is the Lord who teaches us.

Within Christendom, to be called "Doctor" is a status cherished by many who put themselves in the position of authority as teacher or pastor, in churches and Christian institutions of learning.  There is no difference because "doctor" is from the Latin for "teacher" so that whoever takes on that title also takes on a high status among men, whether it be an earned or honorary title.  Such a person has exalted himself (or accepted such exaltation by others) and is in violation of the command of the Lord in Matthew 23:8.  With all of their vast learning, required for their academic degrees, they have not learned the simplest thing -- to listen and obey.

In our case, this means to listen to the words he spoke to his first disciples and later imparted to them through the Holy Spirit.  Early disciples recorded these words in the four canonical gospels of the New Testament, where the Lord
perpetually holds class as our only teacher.  His class is open to you.  There are vacant desks in his classroom and one of them is yours if you qualify to be a disciple.


II. The Function of the Holy Spirit

Jesus states that the Holy Spirit will also teach.  How can this be if Jesus is the only teacher allowed?  Here are his statements:

Luke 12 
12 For the Holy Spirit will give to you (or teach you) in that hour what it is necessary to say.

John 14
26 But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, which the father will send in my name, that one will teach you everything and will bring to mind everything which I spoke to you.

Notice here that while he assigns to the Holy Spirit the function of teaching, he does not call Him a teacher.  This is one of the two exceptions where the Lord separates title and function.  Instead, Jesus' uniquely calls Him
the advocate. This word (Greek, parakletos) is also rendered in English as intercessor, counselor, defender and comforter.  It is sometimes transliterated paraclete.  This unique function of the Holy Spirit can be understood as contrasted with that of Satan, the Accuser, whereas the Holy Spirit is the Advocate, as in a court of law.

The Greek word, parakletos, combines para (beside, near to), and kaleo (to call).  It thus indicates a party called to stand beside one and be one's advocate.  It is not difficult to visualize the Holy Spirit as taking one's side and advising, comforting, counseling, defending, and interceding
as for a client in a court of law. 

The Fourth Gospel alone preserves the parakletos utterances, of which there are four.  I list them here, with the immediate context.  Then, below, I extract and list the specific functions of the advocate (intercessor) in order to discern how these relate to his teaching activity.
15 If you agape-love me, you will give heed to my commandments. 16 And I will ask the father and he will give you another advocate, in order that he be with you to eternity. 17 The spirit of truth is whom the world is not able to receive, because it does not behold him nor know him. You know him, because he abides beside you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans, I come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world no longer beholds me, but you behold me, because I live and you live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. 21 The one having my commandments and giving them heed, that is the one agape-loving me; and the one agape-loving me will be agape-loved by my father, and I will agape-love him and reveal myself to him. 22 Judas says to him: not the Iscariot, Lord, and what is come to pass that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world? 23 Jesus answered and said to him: If anyone agape-loves me, he will give heed to my word, and my father will agape-love him, and we will come to him, and will make our dwelling place with him. 24 The one not agape-loving me does not give heed to my words. And the word which you hear is not mine but of the one having sent me. 25 These things have I spoken while abiding beside you. 26 But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, which the father will send in my name, that one will teach you everything and will bring to mind everything which I spoke to you.
John 15
26 When the advocate comes that I will send to you from beside the father, the spirit of truth that he sends out from beside the father, that one will witness concerning me; 27 and you are witnessing, because you are with me from the beginning.
John 16
4 But I have said these things to you in order that when their hour come you be reminded of them, because I have told you. These things I did not tell you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I go to the one having sent me, and no one among you asks me, Where do you go? 6 But because I have told you these things pain has filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth, it profits you that I depart. For if I do not depart, the advocate does not come to you. 8 But if I go, I will send him to you. And having come, that one will convict the world concerning sin and concerning justice and concerning judgment: 9 Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 and concerning justice, because I depart to the father and you no longer behold me: 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 I have yet many things to be telling you, but you are not now able to be bearing them. 13 But when that one comes, the spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself, but as much as he hears will he speak, and the coming things will he disclose to you. 14 That one will glorify me, because he will receive from me and will disclose to you. 15 All as much as the father has is mine. Because of this I said that he receives from me and he discloses to you.

The functions of the Advocate (Holy Spirit) are:

1. . . .  he abides beside you and will be in you. (Jn.14:17)

2. . . .
will teach you everything. (Jn. 14:26)

3. . . .
will bring to mind everything which I spoke to you. (Jn. 14:26)

4. . . .
will witness concerning me; (Jn. 15:26)

5. . . .
will convict the world concerning sin and concerning justice and                  concerning judgment: (Jn. 16:8)

6. . . .
will guide you into all truth; (Jn. 16:13)

7. . . .
will not speak from himself; (Jn. 16:13)

8. . . .
as much as he hears will he speak,  (Jn. 16:13)

9. . . .
the coming things will he disclose to you. (Jn. 16:13)

10. .
will glorify me, (Jn. 16:14)

11. .
will receive from me, (Jn. 16:14)

12. .
will disclose to you. (Jn. 16:14)

By examining these functions of the Holy Spirit, it is easy to discern why the Lord does not grant to Him the exalted title of "teacher."  Further condensing the relevant functions listed above, we learn (from the Lord, our only Teacher) that the Holy Spirit:

3.  will bring to mind everything which I spoke to you.,

4.  will witness concerning me;

7.   will not speak from himself;


8.   as much as he hears will he speak,

11. will receive from me,

12. will disclose to you.

The Holy Spirit does these things that relate specifically to his teaching activity.  Of course everything in the first list relate to that, but this short list explains why He is not accorded the title of "Teacher."  Everything that Jesus spoke to them, He brings back to the minds of the first disciples, and most specifically to the apostles.  His testimony is to Jesus (the Word).  He speaks nothing original, (from himself) but speaks only what he hears, or receives from Jesus, and so discloses to the disciples.  Fulfilling the immediate function of teaching, it is not the Holy Spirit that is the teacher.  It is the Lord that is the Teacher, for it is only his Word that the Holy Spirit teaches.  The Holy Spirit fulfills the function of a public address system relaying the Words of the Teacher to those that can hear.

The Holy Spirit is not the source of Truth, and therefore, like the disciples, does not occupy the office of teacher.  He has no authority.  Everything finds its source in Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been committed; therefore Jesus remains our one and only Teacher and the Holy Spirit serves as a teacher's aid.

This was true of the Holy Spirit when Jesus, after going to the Father, dispatched Him to the earth to be with his disciples.  It remains true for all disciples of Jesus because of the statement of  Jn. 14:6,

And I will ask the father and he will give you another advocate, in order that he be with you to eternity.

Even today, and forever, the Lord Jesus remains the only Teacher of disciples in this world.  He has sent the Holy Spirit to be, among other things, our helper in learning and discerning the Truth of our Lord and only Teacher.


III. The Function of the Apostles

Jesus commanded the Apostles to teach.  Doesn't that elevate them to the office of Teacher?  Here is the commandment.

Matthew 28

19 Having gone therefore, make disciples of all nations, . . . 20 teaching them to observe all which I commanded you.

Not only there, but we also have this:

Matthew 5
19 For whoever sets aside one of these least commandments and so teaches men, he will be called least in the kingdom of the heavens. But whoever does and teaches them, this one will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.

Let's consider Matt. 5:19 first as it is a simple matter to dispense with it.  It waves a red flag before us immediately, because of two things.   First, it is made general and universal by the word, whoever. There are no exceptions here, and from this one would suppose that anyone is able to be a teacher, contrary to what we have discovered above.  Second, it appears to aim for a head-on collision with this utterance from Matthew 23, where we learn that, by accepting the title, "Teacher" (vs. 8), one exalts oneself and will be humbled:

12 But whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

In one case, for one to be a teacher, and more specifically to accept the title, is to exalt oneself so as to be humbled.  But in the other case,
whoever does and teaches will be exalted, or be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. 

Granting the distinction between function and title, it yet doesn't sound like the Lord, so we must ask, Is this a genuine utterance?

Going to my Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament with its critical apparatus, I discover that the last portion of this verse -- the last and questionable portion,

But whoever does and teaches them, this one will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens,

is supported by only four of the multitude of ancient witnesses.  True, these are ancient -- but few -- and its absence from all the others is telling.  Together with the unsavory implications of the utterance (of inconsistency in the Lord), this demands that we reject it.  The accurate utterance must surely stand according to the multitude of the ancient witnesses, many of them also very ancient, thus so:

Matthew 5
19 For whoever sets aside one of these least commandments and so teaches men, he will be called least in the kingdom of the heavens.

This portion, standing alone, is perfectly consistent with Matthew 23:8-12

Having disposed of the inconsistency of Matthew 5:19, we return to Matthew 28:19-20.  Recall that it reads as follows:

Matthew 28
19 Having gone therefore, make disciples of all nations, . . . 20 teaching them to observe all which I commanded you.

We cannot ignore it because it finds support in many of the ancient witnesses.  What can we do?

There is a simple resolution -- the same as for the Holy Spirit.  I believe it to be the correct resolution, otherwise I would not offer it. 

It begins by recognizing, contrary to the whoever of Matthew 5:19, that these words were first uniquely addressed to specific persons -- the Apostles -- as the Lord prepared them for his departure to the Father.  This is no whoever utterance. This was a unique, singular event, never to be repeated, and we should consider whether the circumstances has an impact on its meaning.

The Son of God has come to earth to teach and manifest the will of the Father to men on earth.  But suddenly he has gone, having been crucified, buried, resurrected, and then he ascended.

What is left? 

There is no holy scripture containing his words, there is no powerful religious institution charged with the task of publishing and maintaining the Word in the world.  There is no historical precedent for the gospel of the Kingdom.  There was only the memory of an itinerant preacher / teacher who moved about the land for a few months teaching and performing wonderful signs.

There were eleven men whom he taught for perhaps three years, and they were common, ordinary persons -- fishermen, tax collectors and such with no special reputations or influence in the world and no credentials.  There were others, just a few, who had been attracted to him and who also heard him, but it was only the Eleven (Twelve including Judas), whom he named Apostles (Luke 6:13), that he commissioned to be his witnesses to all nations.  Furthering the difficulty, the message was alien to all nations.

And those precious words from heaven resided only in their minds and hearts.

Yes, they had the Holy Book of Israel (our Old Testament), as their base.  It was honored throughout Israel and wherever Jews resided.  Even so, the new message was so radically different that one could not span the gulf between the new and the old without the insight of the Master.  He has gone. 

The words that we have in the gospels, they had only in their minds.  They could not take out a holy book and begin to witness to others, showing others the very words of the Lord, allowing the Lord to teach them thereby, as we can.  Those eleven men were the apparent, immediate sources -- the only sources -- with one exception.

The exception was the Holy Spirit.  They also had this promise:

John 14
26 But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, which the father will send in my name, that one will teach you everything and will bring to mind everything which I spoke to you.

We saw above how the Holy Spirit could teach without being a teacher, because he only passed on what he received; so must it be with the Eleven.  Having no record outside themselves, they must seem to men to be the source, temporarily, of the Word of Truth proclaimed to the world, even as the Holy Spirit was the immediate source, to them after the Lord's departure, of
everything, yet without aspiring to the office or title of teacher.  The Lord had forbidden them this at Matthew 23:8; yet, in so far as other men were concerned, they must teach what they had heard from the Lord and received from him through the Holy Spirit.  Therefore their task was the same as that of the Holy Spirit; as the Holy Spirit taught them, relaying what He had received from the Lord, so they were to teach other people, relaying what they had received from the Lord directly and, indirectly,  through the medium of of the Holy Spirit.  It is as the Lord declared:

John 15
26 When the advocate comes which I will send to you from beside the father, the spirit of truth which he sends out from beside the father, that one will witness concerning me; 27 and you are witnessing, because you are with me from the beginning.  

Their witnessing was in the same category as that of the Holy Spirit, because they had been with the Lord.

This is not true for us.  We have the gospels and we need only point others to the Words written in a book, having come from the Lord through the Holy Spirit and those eleven.  Others need not that any human teach them, because the Word is in front of them and, if they but open their hearts, the Holy Spirit will come to them as to the Eleven and He will teach them.   It is precisely as one of the ancient disciple wrote:

I John 2
27 And the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone be teaching you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning everything, and it is true and is not false, and just as it was teaching you, be abiding in him.

The teaching task of men was completed, successfully, by the Eleven.  Their witness yet stands before us on the pages of a book.  Now it is only the Holy Spirit to whom a teaching function remains.


IV. Objections


I have already stated all that need be said but those who cannot hear the Lord rush to justify themselves, their titles, their positions of authority and their inferred status as sources of Truth.  That's understandable since the Lord has not authorized or called the teachers of Christendom.  To acknowledge this would cause the whole house of Christianity to come tumbling down.  But they cannot deny the clear statements of the Lord as quoted above, and must go on to raise numerous objection.  We briefly discuss a few of them.


1. The Objection of Impermanence
 
This may be voiced as a question: "How can we know that what Jesus taught has all been preserved?  There are many things hard to understand, which shows that some of it has been lost in transition for he surely did not mean what some utterances seem to say."  They may go on to state that the words of Jesus in the gospels are not very many.  Surely he taught more than that and so much of it is lost.  Therefore, we need other inspired teachers to make up what is now lacking.

Jesus overcomes this objection with a simple brief utterance:

Mark 13
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

His Word -- his teaching -- is permanent and enduring forever.


2. The Objection of Applicability

This one goes something like this: "The teaching of Jesus was pitched to a primitive, First Century society and world.  The world has changed, and this requires new words that relate to the new circumstances of modern life.  This requires other teachers highly trained in the modern disciplines to reinterpret his words and make them applicable."

Again, Jesus speaks to this objection, revealing that his words apply to all persons in all times:

John 14
 6 Jesus says to him: I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through me.

There are no exceptions; the Word applies to all -- past, present and future.


3. The Objection of Insufficiency


This runs as follows: "The teachings of Jesus are good as far as they go but are incomplete, and therefore insufficient to be a full statement of the Truth.  We need others to come, inspired teachers, who will make up what is lacking."

This may be the most common objection, and is perhaps the strongest, because its proponents quote words of the Lord to support it:

John 16
12 I have yet many things to be telling you, but you are not now able to be bearing them. 13 But when that one comes, the spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself, but as much as he hears will he speak, and the coming things will he disclose to you. 14 That one will glorify me, because he will receive from me and will disclose to you.

Doesn't that settle it?  Every age needs inspired "teachers" to provide what was lacking in the words of Jesus.  Other words, other Holy Spirit inspired teachers!

No, that doesn't settle it because there is this apparent direct contradiction from the Lord himself:

John 15
15 No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his lord does; but I have called you philia-beloved, because everything which I heard beside my father I made known to you.

See them together:

I have yet many things to be telling you,

. . .everything which I heard beside my father I made known to you.

Yes, it looks contradictory.  It is not.  It would have been had the first line read:

Everything which I heard beside my father I have not made known to you.

But that is not what he said; therefore we seek to reconcile these lines by first recognizing that his possessive, I have yet many things, does not equal everything which I heard.

The first statement is an assertion of possession -- I have yet many things.  Now, if we but listen to him with care, we learn,

John 16
15 All as much as the father has is mine. Because of this I said that he receives from me and he discloses to you.

The Lord possesses all that the Father has.  Now, if we but recognize that, at the time he spoke saying,
everything which I heard beside my father I made known to you and recognize that, at the time of these sayings during the Passover meal, he had not yet heard everything that he possessed, the apparent contradiction disappears.  And this the Lord confirmed:

John 5
20 For the father philia-loves the son and reveals everything to him which he does, and greater works than these he reveals to him, that you marvel. 

There is no contradiction.  The Lord possessed all things of the Father, but had not yet heard all so as to relay it to the early disciples.  He had yet greater works to perform. 

Still not satisfied?

John 14
12 Truly truly I say to you, the [one] believing in me, the works that I do, that [one] also will do, and greater than these will do, because I go to the father.

Still not clear?  Jesus must first return to the Father to hear, or receive,  the rest of the things that, because he was the Son, were already his possessions.  He uses the words, works and word, interchangeably.  Here, where he speaks of works, he refers specifically to the Words of Truth that the Father gives to him.  Here is an example indicating that they, Word and works, are synonymous in the mind of the Lord:

John 14
10 Do you not believe that I [am] in the father and the father is in me? The words that I say to you [all] I did not speak from myself, but the father dwelling in me does his works. 

So, in Jn. 14:12 (above) the phrase,
the works that I do, is equivalent to the words that I say to you.  He who believes in me will receive the words and repeat them in the world, as Jesus did, doing the works that I do.  Therefore, the one who believes in Jesus will not only do the works that Jesus was doing, but will do greater works because Jesus is going to the Father to hear more Words of Truth, greater words, from the Father.  These are the many things that he had yet to tell them.  He will hear them from the Father, as he heard the Gospel of the Kingdom from the Father, and will make them known to the Holy Spirit, who, when he comes, will reveal them to the apostles. It will be (and was) precisely as Jesus said,

John 16
15 All as much as the father has is mine. Because of this I said that he receives from me and he discloses to you.

One of the false ideas that has blinded Christians to the Truth of these things is the idea that the greater works refers to miracles greater than those Jesus performed.  What he means to impart by that expression is greater Truth, not greater miracles.  If you think of it, there can be no miracle greater than a miracle!
 

V. Summary and Conclusion

Now we can summarize the above.  But understand first, in all these utterances, Jesus is specifically addressing only the disciples who heard him speak.  He is not including us, or anyone who did not receive and believe the words he spoke prior to his Ascension to the Father.  This later category will appear quickly in our discussion.

The Father sent the Son into the world after having declared to him the words that he relayed to his disciples during the time he was with them.  Both the Father and the Son knew that the wondrous Word of Truth in its fullness was more than any human was able to receive.  Nevertheless it was essential for the Word to appear in the World, incarnate in a human being.  No ordinary human being could understand the Word of Truth, even in its partial presentation, simply by being taught the words.  The full comprehension of the Truth required that the teacher not only present the words, but also exemplify them in his own person.  Most important was that they behold the human being exemplifying the essential Great Principle that is the heart of the gospel.  Jesus of Nazareth did this very thing when he fulfilled the will of the Father by laying down his life without resistance, then by rising up and ascending to the Father in the sight of his disciples.  The disciples must behold the perfect example of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus before they would be able to receive the whole Truth, which is why they were
not now able to be bearing them prior to the Resurrection and Ascension.  Afterwards, the greater works (words) that the Son heard after returning to the Father were relayed to the disciples through the Holy Spirit, precisely as Jesus taught.

This does not apply to us.  We were not there to hear the words from the lips of Jesus of Nazareth and did not behold his resurrection and Ascension.  It doesn't need to apply to us, because we have the full message in the gospels, nothing held back.  We have it all because the Holy Spirit came and "taught" those first disciples what was lacking after they were able to receive it, and they recorded all of it so that it has come to us complete.  We have the whole in one place, the Words Jesus uttered in the world and the greater words that the Lord later sent to the Eleven by means of the Holy Spirit.

The Son received the first batch from the Father, then came and did the first planting as Jesus of Nazareth.  After returning to the Father, he received the second and remaining batch and relayed it to the Holy Spirit that came and taught the disciples, doing the final planting.  Thereafter the words, the mighty works that have their source in the Father through the Son, that were first the Father's and then also the Son's, became in like manner the possession of the first disciples, so that we hear Jesus saying to his Father;

John 17
18 Just as you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world. 19 And in their behalf do I make myself holy, in order that they also be made holy in [the] truth. 20 But not concerning these [ones] only do I ask, but also concerning those believing in me through their word, 21 in order that they all be one [thing], just as you, father, [are] in me and I in you, in order that they also be in us, in order that the world believe that you sent me.

That's us --
those who believe in me through their word.

He spoke of us also in this utterance:

John 20
29 Jesus says to him: Because you have seen me, you believe; blessed [are] those not having seen [who] believe.

Finally, remember also that the four gospels as they have come to us were written many years following the days of his flesh, when he taught his disciples directly, and later when he taught them the advanced course through the Holy Spirit -- from one to two generations later.  This lag provided the time necessary for the first disciples to receive and become acclimated to the greater worksThe Lord therefore remains our one and only Teacher; the Holy Spirit, who abides with us forever,  reminds us of the written words and reveals their deep meaning and significance and thus uniquely serves for us the function of teacher.  It is precisely as he once reminded those first disciples of the words spoken to them and followed up with the greater works.  The teaching function of the Eleven was complete with their passing from the world, having transcribed the Word, including the greater works, to the Gospels.
It is for us to be his witnesses, not his teachers.

The Son remains forever our only Teacher.  Woe to any one who lays hold of that exalted title in his holy name!  His Word is permanent, universally applicable, and fully sufficient. Even the teaching function is forbidden to us.  It was assigned only to the Apostles and the Holy Spirit, of whom only the latter remains to be teaching us.

So what am I doing in this paper?  Am I teaching?

No!  I am being a witness concerning what he has taught me -- this much and no more.  It is as he said to the first disciples:

Lk.24:44 So he said to them: these [are] my words that I spoke to you while yet being with you, because it is necessary all the [things] written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms concerning me be fulfilled. 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 And he said to them that: It is likewise written that the Christ suffer and arise from [the] dead on the third day, 47 and [that] repentance for forgiveness of sins be preached upon his name to all the nations—beginning from Jerusalem.

48 You [are] witnesses of these [things].


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