Training the Teacher

by A. F. Schauffler; Martin Grove Brumbaugh; Antoinette Abernethy Lamoreaux; Marion Lawrance

The Incomparable Life

111. The Thirty Years of Silence.—To these years the Gospels give small space. Only Matthew and Luke make any mention of them, and these give to them only four chapters. All the rest of the Gospels are devoted to the three and a half years of the Lord's active ministry.

112. Take, now, first what we know of this early life. It was lived in Nazareth, in Galilee. Nazareth was a town where caravans rested on their journeys between Damascus and Egypt. It was a rough town, as we may infer by the remark of Nathanael, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). His home was that of a workingman, as Joseph was a carpenter. It was therefore the home of a poor man. Doubtless he himself followed for all those years of silence, the trade of his reputed father. So Jesus was truly a workingman himself. His mother was exceptionally godly, as we see by her wonderful outburst of song in Luke 1:46-55. This song is fairly saturated with the spirit of the old prophets. Joseph also gives signs of his fear of the Lord during these early years in more ways than one. Thus we may be sure that the "atmosphere" of that home was conducive to godliness. He was taught the Scriptures from his youth. This is apparent from his great familiarity with them, shown in his later years. To this we shall refer later.

113. His Early Education.—Of course he was taught to read and write, as every Jewish boy was. He also had the advantage of frequent visits to Jerusalem, for the visit referred to by Luke, at twelve years of age, was only the first of a long series of such visits. No doubt after that first visit he went up to the Holy City every year to the feast. A lad of his type of mind would not let such an opportunity pass without taking advantage of it each time that it came. So much we may say we practically know about these thirty years. But there is much that we may legitimately infer, and when guardedly used, inference is a legitimate source of knowledge. If you will let me go into a man's library, I may be able to infer with much accuracy the calling of that man. If the majority of the books are medical or legal, I infer that the man is a doctor or a lawyer. If the majority of the books that are worn are light fiction, my inference is of a totally different nature. If, to change the illustration, I go to the home of a lady, and in the afternoon find that I can write my name in the dust on the polished piano-lid, I infer somewhat about the housekeeper in whose home I am.

114. Making, then, reverent use of inference, what may we learn about these thirty years of our Lord's life, and of the influences that were at work all that time? Who were his teachers? For, bear in mind, that at the time of Jesus' entry into his public ministry, he came as a full-fledged man, who was prepared for his life's work.

115. Nature Taught Him.—Nature is God's first book, and if man had not sinned, he would have needed no other. To Jesus, nature was an open volume, and he read it in all its spiritual significance. While other boys saw only that which was outward, he saw that which was inward and had spiritual meaning. To him the lily spoke of his Father's care, the leaven that he saw in his mother's house spoke to him of the way in which the kingdom of God grew in this world. The mustard seed was an illustration of the growth of truth. Many of his most simple and precious teachings were drawn thus from nature. Sparrows, seed and tares, fig-tree, salt, and many other objects of nature told him of things unseen.

116. Men Taught Him.—He doubtless mingled much with them in Nazareth, and it is not hard to imagine the boy going to the camping-place of the passing caravans, and listening to the tales that the men from far countries had to tell. The stories that he afterward made use of were in many cases doubtless gathered from such sources. But he made them illustrate things unseen and spiritual. Look at his parables, and see how true this may easily be. The ten virgins may well have been a story that he heard, and of which he made such solemn use in his ministry. Is it unnatural to suppose that in these gatherings of men he may have heard some one tell of a pearl merchant and his fortune in finding a peculiarly valuable pearl? In due time he used this story to illustrate the wisdom of staking all on one superlative venture. Look at his parables, and see how he made use of the interests of men in making clear the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. The sower, the lost silver, the prodigal son, children in the market-place, the rich fool, the vineyard and the laborers—these and many more show how richly the relationships of men with their fellow-men instructed him.

117. The Bible Taught Him.—He was most familiar with its teachings, and knew how to use them on the spot, without reference to commentary or concordance. We find in his sayings reference to, or quotations from, the following books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 1 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah, Joel, Hosea, Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi—22 in all. Had all the utterances of our Lord been given to us, I doubt not that we should have found that he quoted from every book of the Old Testament. For bear in mind that we have only a very small part of what our Lord said preserved for us. His recorded words are only 38,422, or the equivalent of ten short sermons. But for three years he was speaking incessantly.

118. Prayer Taught Him.—His habit of spending all night in prayer was not one acquired of a sudden. No doubt he spent many a night in prayer while he was still at the carpenter's trade. But the prayer-habit is one calculated to shed much light on things that lay hold on eternal truth. All spiritual seers are men of much prayer.

119. Finally, His Visits to Jerusalem Taught Him.—Not in vain did he go at least 18 times to that city before his public ministry began. It was in this way that he saw the formality of the Pharisaic party, and the self-seeking of scribe and chief priest. So when he denounced them so fiercely in later times, he did it not out of an experience of day before yesterday, but out of years of observation. Such were some of the influences that surrounded him, and the teachers that prepared him during those thirty years of silence for his great work. Thus, when the fulness of time came, he stepped forth full armed for the contest with the powers of darkness.