Jesus was a great teacher. His teachings left such a great impact on His students that He did not have to write them down. This was because His life and the impact of knowing Him was enough. They might misunderstand what He meant at first or even for a long time, but being with Him would straighten a person out.
Jesus was there.
For God so loved the world, He did not create an online class (scoring 5 with our service provider!) or send us a streaming video (watch in your ‘jams!) to show us His glory. Instead, God became flesh and lived with us so we could see His glory.
Education has to take the whole person into account: body, soul, mind, and heart.
There is no grace without somebody being gracious to you. There might be blanket pardons, but the grace of God is toward us. God knows our names and comes and loves us. He doesn’t just know our pain, He experiences our humanity.
You can know about the truth, but if you want to behold the truth, see it so that you get the splendor of truth, then God has to be there. Ask Job. He had heard about God, had right beliefs about God, but until Job saw God . . . he did not know.
Jesus used every facet of His life to teach.
Jesus was outside with His students a great deal (like Socrates!) and used what they saw as part of His teaching. We need to break the classroom walls and walk with our students. Jesus ate with His disciples and during the meal, He could teach them. There is something profound about sharing food together. Jesus served His students, right down to washing their dirty feet.
Education like Jesus did education cannot be for profit, must not be homogenized (Peter is not James), and is never easy.
Jesus was willing to let students go rather than just give them the answers, but you could stay even if you did not understand or got things wrong. He wasn’t teaching to the test, but loving His learners to the end.
Jesus did not outsource the hard parts, create ancillary product, or charge for His teachings.
Imagine Jesus delaying the Sermon on the Mount so He could maximize profit or “ministry.” I cannot, because Jesus came to serve and not to be served. Jesus did not ask His Apostles to borrow money from the Romans so that they could support His ministry. Instead, Jesus gave freely and people who could freely gave to Him.
People freely supported Jesus who had the means to do so, but the Lord was not into marketing to spread ministry. In fact, just when the Lord’s market penetration was at the highest, when people longed for Him to become their King, Jesus left town.
Not every student gets it, but Jesus let Judas stay as long as He could.
Jesus had some bad students. Most of them left when the Teacher refused to give an easy “A” or give overly simple explanations to profound truth. He kept warning His disciples about betraying the Word, failing, but as one of them began to make those choices, He did not immediately kick him out of school.
He asked Judas to leave when Judas could not communion with the other students any more, but Jesus gave him every chance.
This is education:
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
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