A GREAT TEACHER
The New Testament writers portray Jesus as a Teacher with unbounded
enthusiasm for His people. So much so that He literally gave His life for them.
In today's First
Reading we hear Moses telling his listeners, "God will raise up a prophet like me from your own kin. Listen to
him! This is what you asked for, afraid as you were to hear the voice of God
coming down from the heavens or seeing Him reflected in a great fire"
(Deut. 18: 15 - 16).
This prophecy was
fulfilled when God came to the human race in the Person of Jesus Christ, true
God and true man.
When the incident
described in today's Gospel occurred, Jesus had just begun His public ministry.
It was the springtime of His public life and He must have felt very good about
it. Springtime is a period in life that we, hopefully, all experience as a time
when everything seems to be going just fine. This is a time when a person feels
truly good, full of fire and pep as though he were filled with power. It is a
time for being surrounded by friends and good people.
Indeed springtime
for any human, even a human Who is God, is a grand time. Jesus visited for the
first time His beloved town Capernaum, by the sea. His friends were around Him
and His words seemed to be having an effect on His listeners. It was there that
He performed the first of His miracles; preaching through His actions as much
as through His words. He demonstrated His power and His good intentions before
He talked about them. Just as a Christian must act like a Christian first and
then preach, so too Jesus acted like a Savior before He told the people about
salvation.
A great teacher!
According to leading educators, the number one qualification of a good teacher
is their enthusiasm for the subject being taught. The word
"enthusiasm" comes from the Greek meaning "God within."
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Nothing great was ever achieved without
enthusiasm."
The New Testament writers
portray Jesus as a Teacher with unbounded enthusiasm for His people. So much so
that He literally gave His life for them. Moreover, Peter and the other
disciples discovered His enthusiasm to be highly contagious to the point that
when He said, "Follow Me," they gave up everything and followed Him.
Through the ages,
even those who do not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior recognize Him as one of
the world's greatest teachers. But for those who do accept Him as Lord and
Savior, Jesus is not just a teacher par excellence, He is the course. He not
only teaches the Word of God, He is the Word of God. In giving us the course on
the "Mystery of Life," Jesus gives Himself. He is not merely the
"Enlightener," He is the Light!