Word to the Wise
Monday, June 9, 2008 - Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time
[1 Kings 17:1-6 and Matthew 5:1-12]When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them......
These words begin the part of the Gospel of Matthew called "the Sermon on the Mount." There is a great deal of symbolism in them. Matthew presents Jesus as the new Moses who received the law of God on the mountain and presented it to the people. In this case, the disciples come up the mountain and receive the new law of Christ. Jesus takes the position of a teacher by sitting down and his disciples come to him! The next few chapters are filled with the teaching of Jesus. Can you recall your best teacher(s)? What were they like? Why were you so open to them and perhaps not to other teachers? I can recall a professor in law school who was well known for his ability to teach. The best testimony to that ability occurred when he offered a course in an advanced area derived from the basic course he taught. He thought he might have twenty students at most. The first day of class he found the room filled with 50 to 60 students! The man simply knew how to present his material! And he was not an easy grader! I have a younger brother who teaches at the local college in my hometown. His students give him consistently high grades (on one of those websites where students rate teachers) for his ability even though he is known to be strict on classroom demeanor and in his grading! Jesus "taught with authority" and made great demands in his teaching. It's not as if much of what he taught was completely new. It was the one who presented it that mattered. Jesus personified what he taught. Perhaps that is what makes someone a great teacher in our eyes. They communicate well and they challenge the learner to master the material and in some cases even get excited about it. Can we say that about what Jesus' teaches? Is he an exciting teacher? Do we find what he teaches to be exciting - even enough to give our lives to it or for it? It may mean the difference between being simply a student and truly a disciple! AMEN
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