365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 131: Teacher

Teacher

"When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His robe, He reclined again and said to them, 'Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.'" (John 13:12-15 CSB)

Jesus is the Great Contrast. From the moment He arrived on the scene, He did the opposite of what was expected. But He never did it just to be radical; He did it to be relational.

Royalty kept itself to the palace, but Jesus walked ordinary streets and ate in people's homes.

Kings had servants who bowed at their feet, but Jesus was a servant who washed others' feet.

People hated Jesus, but He loved them.

People cursed Jesus, but He blessed them.

And then there was the contrast between Jesus the Teacher and the teachers of the law. 

"'Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.' 

"Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on'" (Mark 12:38-44 NLT).

The teachers of the law taught show, shallow sacrifice, and legalism.

The Teacher of the law of love taught humility, heart-level sacrifice, and true worship.

What are we to learn from this Teacher today? How, when, and where do we apply those lessons?

I want to do well on this test, because I want my life to be a contrast, too, between who I was before I took this Teacher's class and who I can be if I learn well from Him.

And the reward...the grade? Better than any gold star or A+: the crown of life, bestowed by the Teacher who first wore a crown of thorns.

365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 130: Master

Master

"When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.'" (Luke 5:4,5 NIV)

"Because I said so." 

I'm not sure if current child-rearing experts approve of this classic parental response, but I do think there's some validity to it. Sometimes, and for various good reasons, "because I said so" has to be explanation enough as to why we, as parents, instruct our children to do—or not do, as the case may be—a particular thing.

According to the New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words (Lawrence O. Richards), "epistates," the Greek word used by Luke each time Jesus is addressed as "Master," "denotes 'commander,' 'director,' or 'chief'" and "implies authority to give orders."

My favorite part of this definition is that Master "implies authority to give orders." Jesus surely has the authority to give orders. But He leaves the option of obedience up to us, because He does not want robots who have no choice but to obey Him; He wants the hearts of people who have been given that choice...and choose Him.

The men and women who first chose Jesus saw in this Master love, compassion, hope, and a new kind of security that caused them to drop everything—fishing nets (Luke 5), jars of wildly expensive perfume (Mark 14), their very lives (Acts 7)—and follow Him.

I wonder what Jesus might be asking me to drop so that I can follow Him more fully. Some net I'm tangled up in? Some prized possession I'm holding onto? Some aspect of my life that's familiar and comfortable and "safe"?

I want to get to the place where I yield to the Master's authority without spiritually kicking and screaming. But on the way to that place, if all else fails—"all else" such as my reasoning, my understanding, my feelings—I can always borrow Simon's basis for obedience: "because You say so."

365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 129: Holy One of God

Holy One of God

"I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" (Luke 4:34 NIV)

I'm squirming a little bit today.

I've been reminded that the names of God require a response...because the Name Above Every Name deserves a response. 

It's not enough (and I'm absolutely speaking first and foremost to myself here) to just know God's names or to recognize who God is. The story surrounding today's verse shows us that. 

In Luke 4, we find Jesus in the town of Capernaum, confronting a man possessed by an evil spirit. More correctly, Jesus is confronting the spirit itself, not the man possessed by it. The spirit shouts, "I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"

Jesus commands ("sternly"), "Be quiet! Come out of Him!" And the demon does.

Only when the demon responds to Jesus, yields to His authority, and obeys His command does freedom result.

I can say I know who the Holy One is. I can know that He is the Healer, the One and Only, the Lord of Lords, the Yes of God, the Only Way, the Name Above All Names, and the Everlasting Father. But if I do not respond to this knowledge—if I am not, as the word "holy" conveys, set apart by it—then I will shudder as the demons do (James 2:19), but I will not be sanctified. I might fear Jesus, but I will not be freed by Him.

Dear Jesus, help us to know You and to know what to do with the You we know. Show us what crutches You, as our Healer, want us to throw away. Show us where we are trying to make you One of many instead of One and Only. Show us what our "yes" looks like in response to you, the Yes of God. Show us, Only Way, the other ways we're trying to go. 

And then let our sure song be, "Glory to the Holy One."

"'Holy, Holy, Holy'
Cried the seraph throng.
Glory to the Holy One,
Join in heaven's song."

(From "Glory to the Holy One;" from the project "Glory to the Holy One;" R.C. Sproul, Jeff Lippencott; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wOow74YwP0.)