If Jesus Were A Teacher

Luke 2:41-48

Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. (Luke 2:46-47)

WHAT WOULD A CLASSROOM led by the Son of God look like? We get a glimpse in the Gospels of the answer to that question in an ancient context—Jesus taught his disciples for more than three years in a format common to the time. But if he were a teacher in our society today, what would he be like? If he were the president, principal, or headmaster of a school—any kind of modern educator—what kind of environment would he create?

These questions are relevant for every follower of Jesus whose life connects with a school, whether that connection is with a public or private school, a college or university, as a student or a parent of a student, and certainly as a teacher or administrator. Pedagogical techniques have gone through enormous changes over the years, and we know a lot more about the learning process than we used to. But if what we know at a professional level is allowed to merge with the nature and character of Christ—his patience, his value for those who are learning, his creative ways of making a point—we could transform society one student at a time. We could bring the influence of the Kingdom into the classrooms of life.

This is not a question of bringing God into the classroom through words and prayers, nor is it about curriculum and the current philosophies of human experts. The environment of God’s Kingdom does not depend on the kinds of things our societies have debated in recent decades. People with Jesus in them can change the atmosphere regardless of policies and curricula just by being like Jesus. Hardly anyone would resist his kindness or the creativity of his ways. If he is in you, and you are in a classroom, he is there. Let him transform your heart and the heart of others through you simply by expressing his nature.

{Jesus, we have been much more concerned about our education policies than about our educators’ hearts. Change our perspective. Let me influence hearts the way you did—to learn as you learned, teach as you taught, and live as you lived. Amen.