My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
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| GOOD TEACHER |
| Mark 10:17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” |
| In all the ancient writings, through all the volumes of commentaries written by the ancient rabbis’ and within all the Old Testament Scriptures, no teacher, prophet, king or priest was ever called “Good Teacher”. No teacher, prophet, king or priest in Israel would accept this title if offered to them. The rabbi’s throughout ages taught that to claim this name was equivalent to accepting the identity of God Himself. But then the Good Teacher walked the earth. And when a man came to Jesus, calling Him “Good Teacher”, this must have created a stir in the surrounding audience. Surely this young prophet teacher would deny any association with this title. But Jesus didn’t refuse the name, for how could He refuse a name that was commonly accepted as belonging to deity and still be the Truth. What He did do though, was to dig into what this young man understood when he called Him that. Ever the Teacher, Jesus is the proverbial questioner, the One who could teach perfectly by asking the right question and letting it sit. As an aside, it has been rightly said that the longest sermon Jesus ever preached, or at least that has been recorded was the Sermon on the Mount, in the gospel of Matthew. There is some who think Matthew compiled many of Jesus teachings into this one sermon, but let us assume He spoke this message completely at one time. If so, the entire sermon as written spanned up to 15 minutes. I suppose the point I am making is that He cut to the quick, He got to the point, He did not loose focus. As I did just there with that aside. (I am horrible with chasing rabbit trails!) Nevertheless, Jesus was the Good Teacher, and He accepted that title, moving on help this man consider what he really was saying. Are you calling Me God young man? Is that what you are doing, and if so, do you realize the implications of that statement? If I am God, (as you say), the God of the Old Testament, what you must do to “inherit eternal life” is already provided to you. The God of the Old Testament, (that is who you speak to), has provided the Law for your instruction. But in case you do not remember the Law, I, the God of the Old Testament, will remind you. Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” Another thing (that might be an aside, – remember – I am horrible with asides/rabbit trails -) is that Jesus worked with this man, not only digging to find out what he understood, but then when challenging him, provided him as much assistance as possible. As much assistance as possible, for Jesus left off one of the last 6 commandments, knowing the young man had a struggle with a certain issue. Jesus sought out this young man, with the passage speaking of Him loving the man, and in Luke, we find he was not simply a random man as Mark records, but a ruler, a man of position and wealth. Luke 18:18-19 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And the one commandment that Jesus left off was that cantankerous covetousness commandment, for this was the very commandment that obviously was not kept by this young man. Note that Jesus didn’t simply quote out the missing command found in Exodus 20:17. Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” Jesus taught this man, along with all His followers, the positive side of the coveting command. Jesus opened up the commandment found in Exodus in an amazing way, showing the young man the depth of law keeping required to fully obey the God of the Old Testament. Mark 10:21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Jesus is the Good Teacher, and if He can open up a young rich rulers heart with a few questions and prodding, we should expect the same. But with all teachers, the students need to be listening. Has He, the Good Teacher, the God of the Old and New Testament asked you any questions lately, prodded you regarding a choice you made, or reinterpreted a passage to mean much more than first imagined? Have you been able to hear Him? After all, He is the Good Teacher, and Good Teachers love to teach! |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
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