Keep Your Eyes on the Teacher

The worst teachers I had in school were the ones who had forgotten how to go back to the basics. My algebra teacher taught over my head to the kids who were getting it but never took the time to come down to where I was: not getting it. He did feel sorry for me at the end of the year. By contriving some pity points, he saved me from carrying an F on my permanent record but left me none the wiser about algebra.

Unlike my algebra teacher, Jesus knows how each of us learns best. He also knows what we’re each going to need for the work he has planned for us, and he trains us accordingly. In the same way that my teacher only understood one learning style, we can be critical of those who don’t learn exactly the way we do.

This is why I get a bit defensive of the apostle Thomas when I hear the designation “Doubting” attached to his name. This “doubter” is the same man who, when Jesus suggested going back to where he had recently narrowly escaped arrest, said to his fellows, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16 ESV).

The incident of Thomas’s doubting is in John chapter 20, in the story of Jesus’ resurrection and his subsequent appearances. On Resurrection Day, Jesus appeared to most of the disciples by suddenly being present in a locked room. “He showed them his hands and his side.”

For some reason, Thomas wasn’t in class that day, so he missed the object lesson. When the other disciples told him they’d seen the Lord, he was adamant that he would never believe it unless he saw and touched the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and the wound in his side. Was he doubting? Yes. But he was doubting the reliability of his friends’ eyes and ears, not Jesus.

Now, Jesus doesn’t pop right back in and clear things up for him. He lets Thomas simmer for eight more days. But when he does show himself again, he doesn’t say, “All right, you miserable doubter, you want proof, here’s proof!” His words demonstrate that he knew what Thomas’s hang-up was, and he gave him what he needed. Were Jesus’ words, “Do not disbelieve, but believe,” chastisement, or instruction intended to get Thomas on the same page as his other disciples? Jesus’ statement, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” doesn’t exclude Thomas from being blessed. This is an encouragement for me.

It’s difficult to put the post-resurrection scenes in chronological order, but Paul sums them up for us in 1 Corinthians 15: 5-8. “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (ESV).

Jesus spent one last evening before his crucifixion filling his disciples to their capacity with spiritual reinforcement so they wouldn’t fail when the first big test came. Now that they had seen him risen from the dead, there should be no more hiding in locked rooms out of fear. Only with unshakable faith would these eyewitnesses turn the world upside down.

For forty days after his resurrection, Jesus continued patiently instructing. At the tomb, Mary knew Jesus when he said her name. Two disciples got an in-depth lesson on the Messiah in Scripture as they walked from one town to the next. Some touched him; some saw him eat. Jesus came to each one in a way that would ensure they knew what they knew.

John concludes his good news story with Jesus inviting seven of the disciples to a last intimate training session. We’re not told that Thomas was a fisherman like Peter, but he was present during this excursion. I wonder if he had decided not to take any chance of missing out again, even if he got seasick.

Jesus’ last words in John’s gospel are, “You follow me!” His command to Peter is for all of us. My lessons won’t look exactly like yours. Our tests won’t be the same, so there’s no point in copying each other’s answers. Keep your eyes on the Teacher and the Book.

Omnipotent Lord, open our eyes to who you are, and our ears to your Word. Teach us to love and have patience with our fellow believers. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Scripture for Reflection

“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4 ESV)

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12 ESV)

Reach for More

When you read the Bible, do you take it to heart, or think about someone else who needs a particular lesson? When you listen to a sermon, are you prone to focusing on someone else you wish were hearing it? Practice turning your attention back to what God wants to teach you. Don’t neglect your studies. There will be a test!

Through the gift of a faithful mother and grandmother, Diane Pendergraft grew up knowing Jesus as a friend. Married for nearly two-thirds of her life, there has been time for several seasons, from homeschooling to owning a coffee shop. She has three grown children and nine grandchildren. An element of this season is writing about literature and life at Plumfield and Paideia.

Photograph © Fa Barboza, used with permission