The Master Teacher

Writing about Christ's role as a teacher should fill volumes. I only have a little blog. So, I will only point out a couple of important things I've noticed about His teaching. I'm not going to talk about His actual teachings in this blentry, but rather the methods He used while teaching. While Christ was on the earth, every word He said and everything He did became a teaching moment. They were learning experiences for any willing to listen.

While Christ was among the Nephites, He asked them to go home for the night. He said, "Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again" (3 Nephi 17:3).

The principle of teaching here is that learning is active. The Savior expected the people to continue to think and ponder on the things which He had taught. He expected them to pray for further understanding. He expected them to prepare themselves to be taught again. He expects the same of us. We need to be active learners in order to receive what the Master Teacher has to give us.

The Jews questioned how Jesus learned all He preached. "Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me" (John 7:16).

In His teaching, Christ always spoke the doctrine of Heavenly Father. He often quoted the words of the prophets--prophets who had written the revelations they received from Christ. I think this is a vital principle for us to understand if we are to teach anybody. True teaching involves true doctrine--not just opinion or analysis. When we follow Christ's example and base our teaching on the doctrines of the gospel, learning takes place. We are so blessed to have easy access to the words of Christ in the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon. We should be anxious to search the scriptures to learn of Him.

Again among the Nephites, Christ taught from the writings of many different prophets. "And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them" (3 Nephi 23:14).

This has long been one of my favorite scriptures to understand how to be a good teacher. Christ "expounded all the scriptures in one." He explained the scriptures--not as separate points of doctrine, but as all part of the same plan. There is so much to learn when we study the gospel. It's important to find how each aspect, each principle, relates together. When we learn that way, it deepens our understanding of individual principles and also of the glory of God's plan of happiness for us. As a master teacher, Jesus Christ expounded the scriptures in one to strengthen the individual testimonies of His disciples.

After Christ was resurrected, He appeared to two of His disciples walking on the road to Emmaus. He taught them. "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24: 27).

After this, the eyes of the disciples were opened and they finally knew who it was who had been teaching them. "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures" (Luke 24:32).

When Jesus Christ taught, He taught with power and the Holy Ghost entered the hearts of His listeners to testify to them of His divinity. When we are taught, the Holy Ghost is present. It is the role of the Holy Ghost to testify of Christ.

It is my privilege to have been blessed with many, many good teachers. The best of these teachers follows the principles that are consistent with Christ's teaching: they expect active learners; they teach true doctrine from the words of the prophets; they explain the scripture as a part of a whole, not as if it stands alone; and, they invite the Holy Ghost to be present to testify of Jesus Christ. Because I have felt the Holy Ghost burn within my own heart, I have a testimony of the reality of the Savior. I look forward to some day sitting in His presence and learning from Him.