01. Chapter 1: The Teaching Situation
Chapter 1 The Teaching Situation
We are going to study “how Jesus taught.” This implies that he was acquainted with the teaching situation, even that he was a part of it, and faced its problems; that he was confronted by the same kind of difficulties in teaching as we, if not the identical ones. That he clearly sensed teaching as a problem appears in his (or Mark’s?) parenthetic injunction: “Let the reader note this” (Mark 13:14, Moffatt) and in the Parable of the Sower, which was not given a title by Jesus, and which might perhaps better be called the Parable of the Soils. It exemplifies four kinds of pupils.
Now what are the elements essentially involved in the teaching situation?
It is an easy question, and, if the reader would be an independent student, let him pause here and first make the analysis for himself, and then read on. It will help you to recall the famous definition of a college (who said it first?) as Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and Garfield on the other. But though the “Log College” is famous in Princeton history, the college on a log is no longer reputable in these days of rich endowments. The teaching situation involves: (1) a teacher (Hopkins); (2) a pupil (Garfield), or pupils; (3) environment (the log), which may be amplified to include classroom, laboratory, library, apparatus, etc., even the social milieu; (4) curriculum, or thing taught; (5) aim, or that which the teacher would accomplish by means of instruction in the life of the pupil, and (6) method, or the way of the process. Can you think of any additional essential thing, like organization, managements discipline?
Or, can these six be further reduced? Were the teaching situations in which Jesus found himself ever complex enough to contain these six elements? The scene of Jesus and Nicodemus, perhaps, under the olive trees at night on the mount near Jerusalem, is similar to Hopkins, Garfield, and the log. Jesus was the teacher, addressed by the pupil, Nicodemus, thus: “Rabbi, we know you have come from God to teach us.” The environment is that night scene, protecting a distinguished but timid and fearful pupil. The subject of instruction is “the birth from above.” The aim of the teacher was, probably, to effect a great change in the life of his pupil. (Was this aim accomplished? See John 7:50; John 19:39.) The method used was conversation, including question and answer and a remarkable concrete illustration of the working of the Spirit (John 3:8), and the exhibition of surprise. At this point pause a few minutes and analyze another one of the teaching situations in the life of Jesus, e.g., that with the Woman of Samaria (John 4:1-42) or that of the Great Confession (Matthew 16:13-28). In fact, would it not help us to make a list as complete as possible of all the leading teaching situations in the life of Jesus? Would it be proper to regard the miracles he wrought as teaching situations? (For answer, see Mark 2:10 and study Luke 5:1-11.) Why?
If the miracle situation is not to be regarded as primarily a teaching situation, may it be so regarded in a secondary sense? Why? This question implies that the miracles may have taught the people lessons without being wrought mainly for that purpose. If not to teach, what was the main purpose of the miracle? This question may be passed over as irrelevant for the present, though important.
We get the unavoidable impression that Jesus was repeatedly involved in teaching situations and that in each of these some method or methods were used. Passing by for the most part the other five elements in the teaching situation, the following studies will concentrate mainly on the methods Jesus used as a teacher. There is no reason why a corresponding study should not be made of each of the other five elements. Why should not somebody undertake it?