HOME TEACHING
[p. 63] HOME TEACHING
John 1:35 - 39; John 7:14 - 17; John 20:15 - 18
I have been thinking, dear brethren, of teaching. You will remember how it is said of an intelligent man, as he is called in Acts 13:7, that he was “amazed at the teaching of the Lord”. Being an intelligent man he would have had to do with teaching, but he had not had to do with anything like that which came to his attention in the ministry of Barnabas and Saul. This is noted in the section in which we are told that Saul was also called Paul.
I turned to John’s gospel, therefore, because it emphasises the thought of teaching, especially in its use of the title Rabbi, applying it to the Lord. It is explained, as you will observe, in this first passage, which I read in order that we should know what was meant. I apprehend that the title or designation has allusion to distinguished teachers, such as the scribes would aspire to be, as known of men, as the Lord said, “They ... love ... to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi”, (Matthew 23:5 - 7). The evangelist John emphasises the use of this title as applying to Christ above the other evangelists. There can be no doubt that he means to convey the distinguished character of the teaching.
I selected the first passage because the title is applied by the two disciples who followed the Lord immediately on His challenging them as to what they sought. It reminds one of what is known in the scientific world, of which one knows little, of certain subtle forces which attract into their own currents. So these two who heard John speaking, followed Jesus and immediately find themselves in the drift or current that was moving with Him; for the movement of Christ necessarily moves everything in a [p. 64] moral sense, and He was moving, He was walking. Thus they are, as it were, linking on with the thing, and without there being any premeditation or, so far as we know, any previous knowledge of the Lord, they addressed Him as Rabbi, as if their minds were charged with the idea. This suggestion ought to appeal to young believers, for they are made conscious, as directed to Christ and as coming under His influence, that teaching is there, that a Teacher, indeed, is there, One of whom they have need.
They had heard, it says, John speaking. We are told what He said, but that is not what is emphasised in regard of them; it was a question of the speaking; they heard him “speaking”; it was the kind of subtle spirit, as I may call it, which accompanied the words, more in value in a sense than the words themselves. As the apostle Paul says, “Whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son”, (Romans 1:9). In listening to him presenting Christ, the glad tidings of God’s Son, the words, of course, would be wonderful, but the spirit of the thing would be more wonderful. And so we find with Paul; he with Barnabas entered, as we read, into the synagogue “and so spake” (Acts 14:1); it is the kind of thing. So here they heard John speaking, and followed Jesus. It is, so to speak, one kind of positive linking them on in their spirits with another positive — a greater. The work of God in this world involves immensity. Scientific men indicate to us, indeed we know by observation, what an immensity of variety there is in the physical system; but how much more so in what is spiritual. John singularly corresponds with the physical system in presenting what is spiritual, not that he takes up the terms, but as under the influence of the Spirit of God he brings the thing forward. It is a question of the work of God and what accompanies it. So they heard John speaking wonderful words, to be sure: “Behold the Lamb of God!” but it is what was behind the words, the kind of indefinable thing that went with the words, which found correspondence in these disciples; they “heard him speaking, and followed Jesus”.
Well now, I want to show how this peculiar influence that was operating linked on in their minds with the abode of Christ, and you will see how obvious it is — especially young ones — that in coming into the current of things that the drift is toward a home. Most of us have been in school in a literal sense, we have had teachers. You may get a teacher of mathematics, for instance, who is excellent, it may be, but you have no desire to go home with him. It is not so here. The Rabbi, the Teacher (for the Holy Spirit is careful to tell us the word means ‘Teacher’ ), where does He live? You can see how excellently set this is in John’s gospel, because it is the home he wishes to lead us to — the heavenly home, and so, “Where abidest thou?” The Lord knew well what was going on in those hearts, but everything is in perfect order here, in keeping with the idea of movement and influence. The Lord turned and saw them following. It is as if He were to say to us, If you have got a little light, if you have come in any way under this powerful influence, what effect has it on you? Is it affecting you? That is what the Lord would convey to us. He turned, it says. Think of what that meant! It was greater than the sun stopping in the heavens that He should turn round to see two people following: “Jesus turned, and saw them following”. He wishes to convey to us how He prizes the movement that is the fruit of the work of God. That is what He is looking for; nothing else is of any value.
And so, seeing them following, He challenges them, because He would bring out more, for He loves to hear what they have to say, viewed as subjects of the work of God. The work of God is always true to [p. 66] itself, and He knew the extent of it, hence He says, “What seek ye?” And they say, “Rabbi, where abidest thou? He says to them, Come and see”; that is to say, the idea of teaching, the drift of it is towards the abiding-place. Do you think the Lord was silent as they reached that place? What words would flow from His lips surrounded by the home circumstances, as I may say, the home furnishing, where the rigour of the school, and of the schoolmaster, would be absent! They would be in the environment of the home and learn there. What thoughts would be conveyed to them!
What emanates from these remarkable circumstances is the idea of the assembly. No one can be in the assembly rightly save as taught, and, I may add, taught in the abiding-place; that is to say, you get the impression in the abiding-place and you say, This must be in every way provided for, so that in a world of opposition we may have the home and its comforts and its environment before we reach it in finality. We are brought to the thing so that we might value it, and as we value it, we conserve it, and we want to see that as far as in us lies that thing is here.
Andrew, therefore, goes and finds his brother Simon and he brings him to Jesus, and Jesus looks on Simon and says, “thou shalt be called Cephas”, and again, so that there may be no mistake as to what this means, we are told the word means “a stone”. Now you see the teaching includes the idea of permanency, something that stands the test here. These disciples were thus receiving their first impressions of Christ, and if the Lord has His way with us, the first impressions He makes on us are the best. They may need development, we may need to be brought more fully to them, but they are all there.
In the name given Simon we have the idea of material for a building, and so you say, This wonderful [p. 67] place where I have been with the Lord, where He abides, is to be a structure of which I am to be part. It is His thought that I am to be material for this building. It is “Wisdom’s house”. There is to be a house which is to be known as such, furnished with everything that wisdom can devise. It is love acting as wisdom. As the material appears, Christ, being Wisdom, names it, and in due course wisdom builds.
Now, I am not saying that all this is in John, but I am giving the setting of things here, and if you are ready for the teaching of the Lord as John presents it, you are brought into the divine abode; you are impressed with the divine thought initially, and then you are given to understand that you are to be material for the maintenance of that here in this world; that there should be here, where the opposition is so intense and inveterate, material that will stand. We have the thing in Peter’s name: “Thou shalt be called Cephas”.
That is what I may call the initial lesson in the home instruction. The home circle is the place for teaching, and that applies literally too. Whatever schools may be, they never supply affection; in the very nature of them they do not supply affection, nor are they intended to do so, they are intended to teach the elements, whereas John’s sphere of teaching is in the home circle, and such a circle! It is indeed the circle where Jesus abides — that is the place; and as I said, the subtle drift leads you there. The mind is drawn that way; and the Lord says, “Come and see”, for He loves to see you coming. Every movement of the work of God is delightful in His eye; it is the movement you see in John resulting from the work of God, “Come and see”.
And so, too, I would appeal to you, “Come and see” where the Teacher abides — this great Rabbi that John presents to us. Nicodemus entitles him similarly — another man who knew what teaching [p. 68] means, for he was a teacher of Israel, as the Lord said. He says, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God”. He connects the Lord with God. This is a sure evidence of the work of God in the man, and this is ever true to itself, as I said.
Well now, I want to go on to chapter 7, because in these last days the teaching of the Lord is in accord with John’s gospel; it is home teaching. From the days of the so-called ‘Fathers’ there has been little or nothing of home teaching; it is lamentable going back in assembly history to note the sudden disappearance of it. You hardly get any of it outside the Scriptures until you come down to our own times. In our own times, thank God! there has been a revival of the idea. The work of God began to show itself in this connection; it shows itself in movement toward Christ and in desire to be where He is. The test of it is movement in relation to Him. In the thought of dioceses, parishes, cathedrals, there is no idea of movement, it is a fixed order of things, nor is there any idea of a home. They may talk of reservation of the sacrament in these buildings, but does that make them a home? Not at all! It makes them idolatrous; there is no ‘real presence’ in these things at all. The real presence is in the assembly, and God has brought us back to that; He has brought us back to the idea of the home, the work of God showing itself in response to Christ in this relation.
In our times some heart touched by the Spirit of God in regard of Christ began to speak, and others heard the speaking and they followed Jesus. No more sectarianism, no more partyism! It is Jesus and where He abides — that is John. And so the teaching, the home teaching has necessarily taken a private or obscure form; and surely we are content to be obscure, if we realise and value the home. Privacy belongs to the home. Of course there is public testimony [p. 69] but part with Christ in the home precedes it. That is the drift, beloved, in John’s gospel; you get the impression of the home and the teaching there, and you say, I do not want anything outside of that — that is the thing; no more theology, good-bye to theology and to doctors of divinity now; none of these things belong to the home, to say the least of them. As I said, all these things are fixed here; you would assume that they are to go on indefinitely; whereas the idea of christianity is movement. It is a question of following Jesus and hearing speaking of Him; He is moving. We are going out of the world, going through it and out of it, not setting ourselves up in it. And so the Lord is walking and John is speaking about Him and the two who heard him speaking follow Jesus, for He is the Teacher. Much might be said by way of reproach as to the kind of teaching, and the kind of teachers, but there is this teaching of the Lord, there is this distinctive teaching that goes on in relation to the home, and no christian can afford to be without it. If my speaking this evening were to attract anyone to Christ, one would rejoice, for that is the end of all ministry. There is such a touch, as in the case of John, such a kind of speaking that the hearers followed Jesus. They wanted other teaching and they got it, as I said, in the home.
But although all this is obscure and private, as I said, chapter 7 brings in the public side of it. You will notice, however, that in the beginning of that chapter the Lord is walking in Galilee. In chapter 1 we are not told where He was walking; but He was walking; whereas in chapter 7 we are told where He was walking; He was walking in Galilee; the allusion is no doubt to the remnant, to remnant times. There was a murderous element in Judaea, hence the blessed Lord accepted the limitations; He walked no more in Judaea, because they sought to kill Him.
[p. 70] You see what Judaea did for itself, and what christendom has done for itself in turning against Christ. It has restricted Him, but therein is the loss; but Galilee, that is to say, the place of reproach, is gaining. Galilee is where He is walking, but there were those even in Galilee — His brethren — who wanted to make a show: “If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world”, (verse 4) What a subtle suggestion that is! How many have fallen before it! We may well take note of it. It was Satan’s temptation, through those outwardly related to the Lord. If He had ability from God to do these wonderful things, why not trade with it, capitalise it, and use it to make Himself prominent in the world?
John the baptist, earlier, had stood the test of that temptation. They sent to him priests and levites from Jerusalem; (chapter 1:19). What an honour! but what flattery! what an effort of Satan! They were ready to confer anything on John could they have done it, because it would have put honour on them. But John says, No, I am just a voice, “I am not the Christ ... but there standeth one among you whom ye know not ... whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose”. That was the position — they were ignorant of the One who stood among them; but John eulogises Christ; he refuses to eulogise himself; he was not worthy to tie His shoe latchet. What a fine tribute! and what a fine model is John the baptist in this gospel for us! He is set down as such; there is nothing said about his failure in this gospel. And so the enemy comes to Christ: “Shew thyself to the world”, he says. The Lord says, “My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready”. Whose time? Those who are in relation to Christ outwardly, but who have no faith at all, “For neither did his brethren believe in him”, it says, (verse 5). It is persons who do not believe who speak thus; they want to make a show. Persons who do believe on Him retire [p. 71] with Him, and are content to be in obscurity; they have the home instead of publicity, and that more than suffices.
But then this wonderful teaching is bound to come out; and it is, indeed, God’s mind that it should; that there should be a testimony even in Jerusalem, even in Judaea, in spite of all the opposition to Christ there. Thank God, we see something of that in our day, and we do not grudge anything that reaches them; in fact, the teaching has reached them. The Lord went up to the feast, as in secret, but it was in love — another wonderful overture of God to the Jews, notwithstanding their opposition! There need be no restriction or reserve in regard of the nominal people of God; let them have everything that we can give them. The Lord went up, we are told, and taught in the temple, not as in public, but as in private. Let the teaching tell its own tale, and it will! However much they may despise the Teacher, the teaching has its own voice, as it has had in christendom; a living voice has been heard there. God has spoken to the apostate system, and is speaking, and will speak, for His patience is involved in it — the patience of God: “sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them”, as Jeremiah 7:25 says.
But what happens? If we read the chapter, we shall see the effect of it. One thing is, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” That is the problem — having never learned. Ah, how ignorant they are! knowing nothing at all about the home teaching, they may say, You have never learned, you have no degrees; they know nothing about the home. I am urging upon all to cultivate the home. Let them say what they please, the teaching tells its own tale; here they had to admit it. So if you run down the chapter you will notice how they are set against one another, and divided in their opinions. But there [p. 72] stood Christ in majesty amongst them, and He says, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine”. That is a voice for christendom. Why do they not know? Because their wills are at work. If anyone is ignorant, it is because his will is at work, there is no other reason. Wisdom’s teaching is plain; there is nothing crooked or perverse in it. And so, the Lord says, “If any one desire to practise his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine”. It is a great thing to accept the reproach as to where we have got the things, never having learned, as they say. The things themselves have their own voice, and wherever there is the desire to practise God’s will they will be accepted, and they are being accepted. The work of God in this chapter is that they do the will of God. I am not seeking publicity, I am doing His will; I desire to practise it, so that the doctrine is known to be of God; it has its own credentials to those who are doing the will of God.
In going on to the last scripture, I want to show you how this principle runs through. In the interval, as you know, the Spirit comes in; the Spirit comes in as the Teacher; as the Lord says, “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”, (John 14:26). He is here, as it were, carrying forward every word of Christ, nothing falls to the ground. Not only what is written, but every word of Christ is maintained by the Spirit; He is the Teacher, and so He says, further, “I will send to you ... the Spirit ... who goes forth from with the Father”, (chapter 15:26). The Holy Spirit has come down from being with the Father, that is to say, He has a perfect knowledge of the Father’s thoughts about Christ. Think of One coming forth from that abode, into which the Son has gone, to witness of Christ! He is the witness of Christ. So we have here, in the Spirit, perfect firsthand knowledge of the Father’s thoughts about [p. 73] Christ; He is here sent by Christ, as having been with the Father, to witness of Him.
Now all that, as I said, intervenes; so that when we come to chapter 20 we have Mary in the most interesting, the most touching circumstances, but still needing teaching, as if to remind us that affection alone, from John’s point of view, however precious, is not sufficient. And so the Lord says, “Mary”! It is a question of the state of her heart. How precious to be called by name Yet it is a feature of John that the Lord names us; He would call us by name. Here He says, “Mary”, and adds no more. It is a real revival of the link, a known voice pronouncing her name, and she says, “Rabboni”, as if again, as I said, governed by the subtle spirit involved in the work of God, and again we have the interpretation of it; it means ‘Teacher’.
We are now approaching the very highest position, beloved, but we need teaching. How many of us are interested in the teaching that belongs to ascension? What I have been saying as to the abiding-place involves much, but what about the teaching referring to ascension, and the relationship we are brought into in regard of the One who is ascending? How well we may say ‘Rabboni’! How one is conscious of it oneself, how little one knows of the inwardness of these circumstances, for that is one point in John, that we are led inward.
And so the Lord says, “Touch me not”, as if to say, This teaching is not to be connected now with the earth or with the garden, for at the best, however perfectly furnished our gardens may be, there is a sepulchre there — an empty grave; desolation marks the whole scene, however perfect the landscape — the garden remains desolate. The teaching is not to be in regard of it; it now has to do with something else. “Touch me not”, the Lord says, ‘do not connect Me with that’; after all, it is desolation, there is an empty sepulchre in it. “Touch me not”, He says, “for I am not yet ascended to my Father”. The link is to be up there. How much she needed teaching in regard of all this! Then He says, “go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. The teaching is all there, and in that blessed inward relation now; that is the thing, and she is to convey the first great message regarding it; she is honoured in that way. Favoured woman, to be so honoured! The Lord would say as a rejoinder, She well deserved it; yes, she did; she shines above the two great leaders, Peter and John, in this connection. They went to their own homes, but she remained at the sepulchre; she saw the angels, she heard them speak; they reminded her of the dignity of Christ; they sat one at the head and the other at the feet where He had lain; but He was not there.
Now He is here to call her out of the garden into the heavenly paradise of God, where the tree of life is. And so He says to her, “go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. And she delivers the message in a comely way, showing how perfectly she was in accord with the teaching. She is now among the taught, the instructed, “the wise”, as Daniel says: and “none of the wicked shall understand” — that is to say, those who are self-willed — “but the wise shall understand”, (Daniel 12:10). As a truly wise, instructed, subject person she goes to the disciples, and instead of taking the place of a teacher, she says that she “had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her”. Very simple, but very powerful! What credentials have any of us, however many words we may use, unless we have seen the Lord? That is the thing, she had seen the Lord. “Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” says another great lover of Him (see 1 Corinthians 9:1),
[p. 75] and so he could speak of Him. Mary had seen the Lord, and He had spoken these things to her. That is all, but how powerful! You can understand the disciples receiving such words and pondering over them, and the Lord comes and stands in the midst where they were — where these persons were who had received this message, who were to be the recipients of all that it meant, who were dignified as His brethren. As the ascending One, He stood in their midst and said, “Peace be unto you”. They were among the instructed, they had the teaching, the most exalted teaching as conveyed in Mary’s message.
How much has been spoken of it since. Volumes have been spoken of it; that wonderful message can never be exhausted. I suppose there are no words written so pregnant with meaning, so inexhaustible as those words to those who love Christ, to those who love the home. Those who go to the seminaries do not know anything whatever about them. It is those who love Christ and who learn in the home circle who value such a message as Mary brought.