Thoughts for the Day

Luke 7:40 Jesus answered him [a Pharisee who had invited him to dinner] “Simon, I have something to tell you.” Tell me, teacher,” he said.

The word translated here as “teacher” is elsewhere translated “Master” or “Rabbi”.  It is a title recorded in all four gospels and given to Jesus by all manner of people: his disciples, people in the crowd, tax collectors, experts in the law, synagogue leaders, rulers, Sadducees and, as here, Pharisees.  There seems to be general acknowledgement wherever he went that he met the criteria for being called “teacher”, and Jesus evidently endorsed its use – otherwise he would have corrected his disciples!  So, what did this title imply?  We’ve noted the importance of memorising Scriptures in Jewish education of the time.  Having memorised the Scriptures would be a minimum requirement for anyone wanting to become a teacher’s follower (disciple), and those who became disciples sought to emulate their “Master” in his understanding and lifestyle.  Paul in Acts 22 describes how he “studied under Gamaliel” (who gets a further mention as a member of the Jewish ruling council in Acts 5) and was “thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors”.  The point to note is that Jesus had not simply memorised the scriptures, he had studied them to the point that he was legitimately considered a “teacher”.  Chris Wright in “Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament” puts it beautifully: ‘In the Scriptures Jesus found a rich tapestry of figures, historical persons, sequences of historical events, prophetic pictures and symbols.  And in this tapestry, where others saw only a fragmented collection of various figures and hopes, Jesus saw his own face. His Scriptures provided the shape of his own identity.’