Another Word about Teaching and Learning

There were many times that Jesus had compassion for people because they were sick and needed healing. But other times his compassion for people was because they were lost and had no teacher.

For example: the disciples had just returned from their first short-term mission trip. Reporting back with Jesus, they told him "all that they had done and taught." In response, Jesus takes them across the lake to "a desolate place" where they could rest up, but a large crowd follows them there. What do you suppose happens next? Well, after a while, when the day is almost done, Jesus is going to feed them all, even though there is very little food among them. That's a famous miracle of Jesus, of course. The feeding of the five thousand! But before that happens, when Jesus first sees this large crowd of people, people who had no doubt pursued him to this "desolate place" because they had heard of his miraculous healing ministry, well, Mark's account tells us this:

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things (6:30-34).

Sheep without a shepherd are vulnerable. They need the shepherd's guidance, or they wander into dangerous places and fall prey to predators. When Jesus sees that this is the state of the people who have gathered to meet him on the shore, what does he do?

He teaches them.

I am reminded also of the two men, on the morning the Jesus' resurrection, leaving Jerusalem on the way to Emmaus. They have heard the rumors of the empty tomb, and of people having seen the risen Jesus, whom they themselves seen brutally executed only days before. They are confused, do not know what to believe, or how to interpret these events. Jesus comes to walk beside them, but they do not recognize him. If they had, they would have probably fallen on their faces before him in fear and trembling. Instead, they explain their sorrow and confusion to this man as best they can, and he proceeds to explain to them from the Scriptures the meaning of the momentous events that had just occurred. In other words:

He taught them.

Just think about that. He could have shown himself to them in such a way as to provoke their praise and worship. But for a time he veiled himself from them, the best to teach them from Scriptures that the things that happened were actually the fulfillment of Scripture. He chose to influence them through teaching about himself from the Word of God.

There are numerous examples of this kind. I only mention this to reinforce the message of the last post in this series. Teaching and learning is a profoundly important aspect of the continuing ministry of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and by this means the lost are found, the vulnerable made safe, and the Kingdom of God flourishes in the hearts of men and women.