The nature of a teacher.

 

“And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan,

and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.”

Mark 10:1

 

The word translated “custom” in most translations tries hard to capture the original intention but it doesn’t really do justice to this tiny phrase. The Greek word that Mark used here is the word “etho”.  You must have guessed by now that this is the root word for the one we know and use today – ethos. The Oxford dictionary gives this definition for Ethos – “The characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations.” When studying the etymology of the word it takes us back to the original and we find there that its usage was not limited to a community context but even to the individual. In its Latin usage it moved more towards a community context. But in the original Greek it would be used to mean a person’s disposition or nature.

 

So when we read this phrase what Mark is telling us is that as Jesus arrived in that region of Judea, and the crowds gathered around Him, He began to teach them – as was His very disposition and nature.

 

Now we ask what this means. I don’t think it is sufficient to explain this in a simplistic way and say “Jesus’ nature and His disposition was that of teacher and so He taught at every opportunity.” I had many teachers in school and I know that there were many who were there because they needed a job and this particular one paid the bills. But then there were those who were by nature teachers and that meant something else and made their classes and interactions memorable. What was it that made them different? In hindsight I see it as their desire to teach came from a desire to help others grow. It was not just a desire for the title of teacher. Nor was it a desire to be the important one in any gathering – the one who gets to use the stage while everyone else ought to listen. Their desire to teach came from a place to see others grow and mature.

 

In this light this phrase begins to find its powerful meaning. Jesus taught – as was His very nature. The very nature within Him yearned to make known the kingdom of God and the forgiveness and mercy of heaven. His very nature yearned to cause the crowds gathered around Him to grow in their understanding of and relationship with the Father. We know the extent to which Jesus would go to fix that broken relationship – even death on a cross.

 

Today, in our churches and communities we have many “teachers”. But I wonder how many would be able to say that they teach from a place where, like Christ, it is their nature. One glaring truth is that we need more teachers. But another truth is that the Lord has called us all to the ministry of discipleship. In His great commission (Matthew 28:19-20)He says “Go and make disciples… teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.” It is the same Greek word (didasko) used here that is used in Mark 10:1 when talking about what Jesus did. We need to therefore firstly ask ourselves whether we are fulfilling this commission. But very quickly after answering that question we need to ask ourselves whether we are teaching out of convenience, calling, job description fulfillment, obedience, a sense of self-worth and importance, a need for the stage and the like. Or have we truly allowed the Spirit to work within us in such a manner and to that degree that one significant part of the Christ formation work happening within us is that we teach as it is our very etho.