Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Mark 1:21-28

January 28, 2024 — Faith Lutheran Church — Pastor Jonathan Linman

I invite you to think about and remember the best teachers you’ve ever had. Who have been your favorite teachers – in school or teachers in other settings? What were the qualities that made them such good teachers? Take a moment to remember and reflect…. [pause for reflection]

I’ll bet you anything that the qualities that made your favorite teachers so good went beyond their just being knowledgeable about their subjects. I’ll bet that they were also personally engaging and that they really cared about you and your well-being. And I suspect that they taught in ways that maybe changed your life.

Of course, not all teachers are good or effective. You probably also have your lists of bad teachers. And unfortunately, there are lots of bad teachers out there these days. Not necessarily just in schools, but online and in social media. There are many false prophets, false teachers out there who want to lead us astray and take advantage of us.

In today’s first reading, Moses had stern words of warning for such false prophets and teachers. Moses said: “But if any prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.” (Deuteronomy 18:20)

When it comes to teachers, you’ll know them by their fruits. That is to say, you’ll be able to judge teachers by the effects that they have on their students or followers. That’s how you can tell the good apples from the bad.

The fruits of bad teachers and bad teaching are things like giving out misinformation, leading people astray, seeking their own greedy advantage, and wanting power over others to dominate them. And more.

But we know good teachers and good teaching by their fruits too. What are the fruits of good and faithful teaching? Good teaching forms people to do good. Good teaching liberates people and maybe even transforms them. Good teaching helps us love each other.

The apostle Paul sums it up well in today’s second reading: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1b)

Which is to say, knowledge by itself is not enough; it leads to arrogance. But it’s love that makes the difference for teaching – a teacher’s love for their subject, a teacher’s love for their students. That’s what builds up. That’s what forms and transforms us.

Of course, we have in Jesus Christ the model teacher. Here’s how Christ the teacher is described in today’s reading from Mark’s gospel: Christ as teacher was astonishing, amazing, authoritative, and he offered a new, and commanding teaching. Christ’s teaching liberates people from what keeps them captive, and frees them from that which possesses them and holds them back – just like the one with the unclean spirit whom Jesus liberated in today’s gospel reading.

And the best and most compelling and transformative, world-changing teaching that Jesus has offered took place on the cross and in the empty tomb. That’s where Jesus practiced what he preached and taught the whole truth. On the cross we see the love he taught us in action, for actions speak and teach louder than words. In the empty tomb we see the vindication of love as the most powerful force in the world.

And Jesus Christ didn’t stop teaching us after his death, resurrection, and ascension. On the Day of Pentecost, God in Christ sent the Holy Spirit to guide us even now into all truth. That same Spirit is still among us to carry on Jesus’ teaching ministry.

For when we are gathered around God’s holy word in scripture, as we are even now, Christ teaches through the power of the Spirit speaking in the word. When we gather at this table for the meal, Christ continues to teach us, transform us, with the gift of his very self, another instance when action – the action of breaking bread – speaks louder than words.

Jesus’ astonishing, amazing, commanding and authoritative teaching among us in the church in word and sacrament continues to liberate us from unclean spirits when we hear words of love and mercy, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

When we are thus liberated from our captivity to sin, our faith comes alive, and we are empowered to leave this place to become teachers for others in our lives, extending Jesus’ teaching ministry in our own words and deeds.

God in Christ, working through our hands and in our loving words, teaches the world that there’s a better way, a way that frees us all from all the bad teachers and false teachings that keep the whole world in bondage.

In short, and to conclude: may Christ the teacher continue to amaze and astound the whole world for the liberation of all creation! Amen.