Title: Our Jesus, the Great Teacher
It is learner-centred, not educator-centric.
It is an interactive education, not an infusion,
It is not a teacher-led way
It is a way to guide learners to discover the truth for themselves.
Today's text is a well-known illustration of the Good Samaritan. If we pay attention to Jesus' excellent teaching method as much as the content of the message, we will confirm the process and method of the Lord's excellent teaching in at least two steps.
In the first stage, you will meet Jesus, who faithfully answers the challenging questions of the lawyer. One day a teacher of the law asks Jesus a serious question. “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Here, we must not miss the challenging attitude of the questioner. This man poses a grand religious question in an attempt to trap Jesus. There is no reason why Jesus is ignorant of his impure motives.
But the Lord doesn't care about those evil motives. If it were us, we could criticize or argue for a hostile attitude. The Lord answers the questioner's question very politely. But here the amazing teaching philosophy of the Lord is revealed. He elevates the questioner or learner as a subjective interpreter rather than a mere object or learner. “What is written in the law, and how do you understand it?” he asks. The interactive teaching method does not borrow a simple conversational form, but recognizes the interrogator's ability to interpret. The interrogator had contempt and hostility, but the Lord recognized his ability to perceive.
That's right. Humans are interpreters. Objective facts never speak for themselves. It is always human interpretation of facts. Nor does the text of the Bible speak for itself. It is the reader's interpretation of it. The Lord knew this principle and asked the questioner's interpretation. This is why we should not be afraid of individual interpretations of the Bible.
A lawyer speaks of his own interpretation. The Lord accepts the answer as the correct answer without hesitation. But it is at this point that we see that Jesus' teaching method is even better. Because it guides learners to a new level.
"Your answer is correct. Do as it is, and you will live."
The climax of the first stage is right here. A correct interpretation is not enough. To gain eternal life, we must go beyond interpretation. It is a matter of practice. He made me realize that truth is not only obtained through interpretation, but is finally obtained only through practice. The Lord showed the limitations of reading the Bible without practice. However, the Lord's teaching method does not end here, but its excellence is shown in earnest in the second phase.
The second stage begins with the re-challenge of the lawyer. As a legal expert, he was proud of himself. He seems defeated, so he asks a tougher question to further strengthen his position.
"Then, who is my neighbor?"
Let's first pay attention to the form of this question and the attitude of the questioner behind it. The question of who is your neighbor is a static question, a question of the verb being (Be verb). And at the heart of this question lies yourself. The question of who my neighbor is is centered on self.
When I see the Lord answering this challenge again, I am amazed at his exceptional teaching method as well as his unconventional ideas. We also realize that Jesus is a genius drama writer. By showing a drama consisting of three acts at once, he corrects the wrong questions of the lawyer and makes him realize the truth.
In the first act, the Lord presents the wickedness of a band of robbers and the suffering of the victims. You seem to be starting a nonsensical conversation that has nothing to do with your neighbors. Imagine the expression on the lawyer's face. What does knowing my neighbor have to do with bands of robbers? The emphasis of our Lord here is clear. The problem with <Love Your Neighbor> is that it cannot be understood and put into practice without being connected to a specific situation. In other words, the 'neighbor' and 'love of neighbor' problems can only be properly understood in a situation where vicious groups that forcibly take away other people's belongings, beat up people, and throw people away like things are prevailing. In a world of peace and quiet, this problem is not urgent.
In order to present the true subject and model of <Love Your Neighbor>, the Lord first shows the false subject and fake model. It's a rigorous teaching method. This is also surprising. The main characters in the second act are fake models. Religious leaders. Those who say they know the law best. By exposing their hypocrisy, they bring out true neighborly practitioners.
However, the main character in Act 3 is a very out of place character given the circumstances at the time. The main characters in Act 2 were the Samaritan, the twin they hated the most. This, too, came from a radical idea. Imagine a lawyer who is bewildered by the Lord's teaching method, which features a Samaritan as the protagonist, whom the lawyer himself so despised. Why did the Lord surprise him like a surprise show?
It is clear. Because only the Samaritan did not ask who my neighbor was, but decided to be a neighbor and did the right thing. For the Samaritan, the verb “be” was not the problem, but the action verb: “I saw”, “compassion”, and “I went near”.
The climax of the second stage is well illustrated by your last question. He asked <in your opinion>, respecting the interpretation of the teacher, who was the questioner, until the end, and he asked again, "Which of these three people do you think was a neighbor to the man who was struck by the robber?"
Dear brothers and sisters, here, compare the question form of the Lord with the question form of the teacher of the law. You will see that it has been converted from 'My Neighbor' to 'Neighbor to Others'.
The answer to this diverted question is all too obvious. The answer is very certain. The truth began to become clear enough that even a three-year-old child could answer it. The teacher of the law had no choice but to reply, “I am the Samaritan who gave love.” While respecting the learner's personality and ability to interpret, he forced him to approach the truth on his own. How excellent is your teaching method? How good are you?
He persuasively reminded me that the way to eternal life is to practice love by becoming a neighbor to the nameless people who have been unfairly harmed by the gang. To love God who was crucified is to love our neighbor. Therefore, the love of neighbor is the love of God, and this is the way to eternal life. The Lord has guided the learner to realize this truth for himself through the method of dialogue. Thanks again to our great teacher, Jesus.