Wednesday, April 4

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Luke 24:25-27

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Did you have a favorite teacher in high school or grade school? Sometimes we like certain teachers because their classes are easy. Sometimes we like teachers because we happen to enjoy the subject they teach. But most often, I think, we come to love and respect certain teachers because of their passion and creativity.

I can remember a teacher I had as a senior in high school whose name was Mr. Nelson. His class was called “Project Physics” and was basically a science class for the “less than scientifically inclined.” Most of the students in the class didn’t much care to be there, including me. It was spring semester of our senior year and our minds weren’t terribly engaged in the concepts he was trying to teach us. But after almost 40 years I still remember one class session.

He was teaching on the Doppler Effect, or more specifically how the distance between sound waves impacts the pitch we hear (or something like that!). To demonstrate the phenomenon to his less-than-interested class, he brought his trumpet to school one day and played a note on it while running back and forth in front of the classroom. At the time we all thought he was absolutely crazy and we laughed at his effort. But, the truth is, I could hear what he was trying to demonstrate, and from that day on I understood the Doppler Effect. And today I regard Mr. Nelson as a great teacher!

I read this story and I try to imagine what it would have been like to have Jesus himself teach the scriptures to me! Jesus, the very Word become flesh, teaching and explaining the word of God – teaching and explaining himself!

This is like having Einstein teach on astrophysics, but more! This is Pavarotti teaching about singing, but more! This is Billy Graham teaching on evangelism, but more!

I picture Jesus walking between these two men and occasionally putting his hand on one of their shoulders. I can see him at other times out ahead of them by a few steps and backpedalling while he teaches with eyes bright and voice strong!

I can almost hear him speaking with a kind of glad certainty; the scriptures seeming to bubble up out of him like water from a spring. I imagine him speaking as a man on the verge of great laughter; filled with the glee of one who is revealing a great secret.

And do you know that Jesus still teaches us today? In John 16, he says:

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you.” (John 16:12-14)

Thank God for the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, who helps us understand and respond to the words of Jesus.

Pastor Brian Coffey