"No longer do I call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." St. John, 15:15.
For a moment tonight let us peek in at the door of the upper room where our Lord celebrated the Last Supper. Listen closely to His beautiful sermon to the apostles. It is His last talk before His passion. How tender, how loving, how assuring, how solemn His thoughts. He tells them not to be troubled; He tells them to keep His commandments, especially to love one another; He declares that He is the vine and they are the branches; again He urges them to love one another; and then in His most tender tones, Jesus assures them:
"No longer do I call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
Christ speaks those same words to you, as if He were to say: "I have taught you the truths of God. I have preached to you about heaven and your heavenly Father. I have shown you the will of God. By word and example I have pointed out the path to God."
Christ was a TeacherThe Son of God came to this earth not only to save us and give us an example of all goodness, but also to teach us the eternal truths, to instruct us in the things that are forever true. That Christ was a Teacher is clear from His life:
"Now it came to pass when Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, that he passed from there to teach and preach in their towns." St. Matthew, 11:2.
In the sermon on the mount we read:
"And opening his mouth he taught them" St. Matthew. 5:2.
Crafty enemies tried to get rid of Christ in His own town of Nazareth. The Bible tells us about it:
"But he, passing through their midst, went his way. And he went down to Capharnaum...and there he was teaching them on the Sabbath. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority." St. Luke, 4 :30-32.
Teacher to comeThe Old Testament prophets hailed the future Redeemer as a Teacher of truth. Moses had told the chosen people: "The Lord thy God will raise up a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him shalt thou hear."
Like Moses, Isaias also foretold that the coming Redeemer would deliver men from sin and from error.
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me," cried Isaias, "because the Lord hath anointed me: he hath sent me to preach a release to the captives, and deliverance to them that are shut up; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn."
Christ Himself read this passage in the synagogue at Nazareth. Folding the book, He declared:
"This day is fulfilled this Scripture in your ears."
Christ also said:
"For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth."
And St. Matthew reports:
"The people were in admiration at his doctrine for he was teaching them as one having power, and not as the scribes and Pharisees."
Christ taught dogmasBut why, you might ask, are you emphasizing the point that Christ was a Teacher? Because there are some misinformed individuals and groups who falsely maintain that Christ did not teach anything definite, that He was just a sort of super Good Fellow, who told people to be good, but who had no definite teachings or truths to give them.
Some benighted so-called Bible Christians even hold that Christ never taught any dogmas or doctrines. The most hasty reading of the Bible belies that ignorant statement. Such people make this silly statement to undermine the influence of the Catholic Church, which is practically the only religious group with a definite body of teachings that fit together. To that Church Christ made the promise that He would keep her from all error.
Newman wonderedEvery intelligent person knows the story of that brilliant convert to the Church in the nineteenth century, Cardinal Newman. One of the keenest minds of all time, he read and studied and prayed himself into the true fold. As a small boy he once asked his mother:
"Mother, what church is the oldest church?"
"Oh," she admitted, "the Roman Catholic Church is the oldest Church."
"And why," asked the little fellow, "why is the Roman Catholic Church not the true church?"
"Because it left the truth in the fifth century," she answered.
"Oh, then, mother," he exclaimed thoughtfully, "the gates of hell prevailed against the Church of Christ, didn't they?"
That is the very thing Christ promised would not happen. And actually it did not happen. The Divine Teacher has given the assurance that His Church would never be subject to error in faith and morals. The Catholic Church is still teaching what Christ taught. Like Christ, she teaches definite doctrines.
The Ideal TeacherOur Lord was the ideal Teacher, because He was God. As God Christ knew all things. No teacher could ever say that. With all their learning pooled in one brain, the learned of all times and all places could not match the unlimited knowledge of the God-man. He knew in every detail not only what He was teaching, but also whom He was teaching. He knew every question from every angle. He knew just how every word and every idea was being received by His hearers. Would that we had some such gift.
Christ Taught as GodWhen you or I make a statement, especially if it be something new or something different from what has been believed, we must prove it, or at least refer to someone greater than ourselves as authority. Thus, when the prophets taught they always made it clear that they were simply repeating what God had told them. They were merely the mouthpieces of God.
Jesus, however, speaks in the first person. He begins His sermons with,
"I say to you." That He had power not only to preach and explain the law, but also the power to make and change the law, we see from the changes He made in the Old Law and the new teachings He gave to men. From His words we see that Christ is the Lawmaker Himself. No wonder the people exclaimed after His sermons:
"This man speaks as one having power."Church with AuthorityTo His Church Christ gave the same right to speak with authority. Where today is there any church that speaks with the power and authority of the Catholic Church?
Some years ago a professor in one of our best known universities joined the Catholic Church, after years of study. When asked the reason for his conversion to Rome, he replied:
"Because the Catholic Church is the only one that speaks and acts with real authority."
His questioner raised this objection:
"Think of it, you have surrendered your will and your judgment to an organization."
"Not to an organization," the professor answered, "but to God."
But his questioner insisted:
"Why could you not submit your will and judgment to God in our church?"
"Because," explained the professor slowly and thoughtfully, "because God always speaks with authority, and the only Church in the world that so speaks is the Roman Catholic Church."
Indeed, just as Christ spoke as one having power, so His Church speaks as one having power.
What are some of Christ's Teachings?What are some of Christ's teachings? First of all Jesus taught us that we have a Father in heaven, not a far-away, vague being, a sort of cloud floating around in the sky, an uncertain someone who is all might and majesty. No, Christ spoke of a loving Father to whom we should pray,
"Our Father, who art in heaven."Jesus taught us that He himself is God, that He and the Father are one, that He has come to tell us about heaven, to win it back for us, to give us an example, to suffer and even to die for us.
Again and again Christ repeated that man must give an accounting to God, that man must appear before Him, the Judge, that there is a life without end beyond the grave, a life that can be everlastingly happy or eternally sad.
To these essential truths Christ added a code of morals, making clear what is right and what is wrong. Lastly, but of immense importance, Jesus established a Church and told us that He would be with that Church for all time.
How dis Christ Teach?We might illustrate Christ's method of teaching by the manner in which He brought out one truth, the principal truth of the lessons He taught. Note how Christ tried to teach the Jews that He was God.
In the beginning He merely hinted at it. He knew that the chosen people were expecting a rich and powerful Redeemer, not a poor carpenter's son. Christ, as it were, let them in gradually on this truth. He took into account their prejudices and false ideas. Gradually He led them to the truth, but, oh, how He insisted, once He told them the big truth that He was God.
Sublime yet simpleChrist taught as One having power, so that the people marveled at His doctrine. Yet, He taught so that all might understand. He used plain, homely words, and illustrated His meaning with signs and parables and comparisons. His teaching is so sublime that no human mind could have originated it; yet so simple that the most unlettered can learn its fundamentals.
His ExampleA powerful help in His teaching was His example. More effectively than words His life prompted men to embrace the truth and follow the path of virtue. Christ not only told us; He showed us. That is the test of a true teacher.
MiraclesBesides His example, His practicing what He preached, there was something else that gave weight to the words of Christ, namely, the wonders and miracles He performed.
He could and did give a lesson on forgiveness and then back it up with curing a man who was sick 38 years with paralysis. At a word He could cure one man or ten men of leprosy. From this standpoint alone, it is sheer folly to compare Christ with Socrates, or even with the greatest of the prophets, Moses and John the Baptist. He had no special doctrines for special friends. He told His apostles and disciples to preach to the whole world everything He had told them.
That teaching, furthermore, worked the greatest of miracles - it changed the face of the earth, it changed the hearts of men for the better.
PropheciesJesus further showed His superhuman wisdom by foretelling future events, which God alone could know. Three times He foretold His passion and resurrection. He predicted the triple denial of St. Peter, the treason of Judas, the destruction of Jerusalem, the scattering abroad of the Jews, and the growth and continuation of His Church.
Christ's prophecies were no mere guesses. Christ Himself gave us the reason for His prophecies:
"I tell you now before it comes to pass, that when it has come to pass you may believe that I am he." St. John, 13:19.
They tried to catch HimThe wisdom of Christ is also shown in those situations in which His enemies tried to snare Him. On several occasions the scribes and Pharisees set a trap to snare Him in His speech. They knew that His conduct was always above criticism, so they attempted to surprise and upset Him in some statement that they could use against Him. On everyone of these occasions, Jesus not only escaped the snare, but He sent His critics away confused and embarrassed.
God or CaesarAn example will make this clear. You remember the time when the scheming scribes asked our Lord whether it was lawful to give tribute, that is, to pay taxes to Caesar or not. That was a devilish question, when you know the circumstances.
Secretly the majority of Jews rebelled against paying taxes to the Romans. The Roman authorities, on the other hand, considered it treason to oppose the payment of these assessments. If Jesus said that it was lawful to give tribute, He would make enemies of the Jews. If He answered that it was unlawful to render the tribute, the Roman officials would treat Him as a traitor. Jesus called for a coin of tribute, asking: "Whose are this image and the inscription?"
"Caesar's," they answered.
Then Christ declared:
"Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." St. Matthew, 22:21.
They had not asked about God. Perhaps, they did not even think of God. But Jesus, in His wise reply, reminded them that they owed the tribute of keeping God's law in their dealings with their fellowmen. It was not only a clever and complete answer, it was a norm, a principle for the duties of citizenship in all ages and nations to come.
Incidentally, it is the norm we Catholics follow in all relations between Church and State. We have no double allegiance. We give to the State what belongs to the State, and we give to God what belongs to God. That is what Christ told us to do.
The wisdom of the Divine Teacher is without question. Although Jesus never attended school, yet
"He taught as one having power." His hearers were forced to inquire:
"How come this man by this wisdom?" Even His enemies had to confess, "never did man speak like this man."
And ever since, even those who deny that Christ is the Son of God, admit to His superhuman wisdom and holiness. For example, Renan, a radical freethinker, speaks of Christ as "that sublime person, who presides perpetually over the destiny of the world."
Tortured for His TeachingsThe sincerity of Christ in His teaching is shown in His willingness to suffer for what He taught. Jesus always had something definite to say and He said it - clearly, courageously. He would not stop teaching until His own blood would drown His voice.
In proof behold our Lord before Annas, a man grown old in wickedness, who twenty years before had been high priest, a man whose heart had been hardened instead of softened by the years. With devilish triumph Annas questions Christ about His doctrine and teaching. Jesus answered him:
"I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing. Why dost thou question me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; behold, these know what I have said." St. John, 18:20,21.
For that answer Jesus received a cruel blow. One of the servants, a coward if there ever was one, in order to please the high priest and win favor for himself, rushed up to the Redeemer and gave Christ such a fearful blow on the cheek that our Lord staggered. At the same time this fawning friend of the Jewish leader cried out:
"Is that the way thou dost answer the high priest?"
Christ showed the cruelty and injustice of it by responding:
"If I have spoken ill, bear witness to the evil; but if well, why dost thou strike me?" St. John, 18:23.
A blow upon the cheek, a blow of the fist, a blow of an iron-clad fist on the holy, heavenly face of Christ, that face which angels yearn to see. This blow was meant, not so much for the person of Christ. It was a blow at His teachings.
Attacked TodayThat miserable minion of a miserable leader did not like what Christ taught. He knew that his master, Annas, did not like Christ's teaching. He knew that the court did not like it. Not having sense or wit to answer or refute, the coward put his answer in the form of a blow. History tells of many such cowards, of men who could not answer the teachings of Christ with facts or reason, so they took to blows, blows in the face of Christ's followers.
That cowardly soldier has many imitators today in the form of certain teachers, writers, columnists, politicians, dictators, and even so-called ministers of the Gospel...who rain blow after blow on the Catholic Church because it will not change Christ's teaching.
Dying for DogmaAnnas sent Christ to Caiphas, the high priest of that year. Among other things Caiphas asked:
"I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God."
Jesus answered:
"Thou hast said it. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting, at the right hand of the Power and coming upon the clouds of heaven." St. Matthew, 26:63.
The high priest tore his garments and shouted: "He has blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"
"He is liable to death," was the verdict. St. Matthew, 26:65.
The Living TeacherIt remains for us to recognize the considerate care with which God has preserved His teachings in His Church, the Catholic Church. Realizing this fact we want to thank God again and again for making us the heirs of His truth.
Thank God for permitting you to sit at the feet of the living teacher, His Church, and to hear the living word as it is poured from living heart into living heart by God's divinely appointed and divinely guided teacher, the Catholic Church, the voice of Christ in our own day. Amen.
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Adapted from With Christ Through Lent
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (©1951)
