Teacher Come From God

One of the points that the gospel makes clear about the Savior is that He was a powerful teacher.  We read that “the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29).  When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night his observation was this: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God” (John 3:2).  Luke described the Savior’s teaching in Galilee this way: “And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power” (Luke 4:31-32).  We too are witnesses of the incredible power of His teaching as we read the accounts of His words to the people.  From the parable of the Good Samaritan to the allegory of the vine in John 15 to the masterful Sermon on the Mount, He had a way to teach of teaching such that His lessons were unforgettable.  He had the ability to teach sermons that have echoed through the ages and yet were so short they could be stated in a single breath: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7).  “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4).  “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).  We rejoice to have so many of His words even today, two millennia after He spoke them. 

               Surely one of the ways, then, that we are to fulfill the commandment to become “even as [He is]” is to become powerful teachers in the Lord’s kingdom.  If we are His disciples we cannot escape the requirement to teach.  As Elder Holland once put it, “Surely the opportunity to magnify that call exists everywhere. The need for it is everlasting. Fathers, mothers, siblings, friends, missionaries, home and visiting teachers, priesthood and auxiliary leaders, classroom instructors—each is, in his or her own way, “come from God” for our schooling and our salvation.”  In our dispensation the Lord has made this requirement clear to us.  In one revelation He said, “But, verily I say unto you, teach one another according to the office wherewith I have appointed you” (D&C 38:23).  In the Olive Leaf revelation He exhorted us, “And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you” (D&C 88:77-78).  As part of the dedication of the Kirtland Temple we have these revealed words: “And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom” (D&C 109:7).  The gravity of the teaching responsibility for parents was explained in these words: “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents” (D&C 68:25).  In nearly all parts of our service as disciples we have the obligation and responsibility to teach, and, as has often been stated by Church leaders, there is “no greater call.”  It’s easy to downplay the importance of teaching a class—whether to the sunbeams or a group of teenagers or the Relief Society—but we should never underestimate the potential as teachers to change lives just as the Savior did.