St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:25b, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 3.   

Christ has told his disciples that no pupil is above his teacher.  He has said this to illistrate to his disciples the structure of pupil teacher relationship.  If the pupil is below his teacher and the students of the evil one are who they encounter in their solo journey then they should not worry.  They should not be afraid.  For the disciple is not above his teacher and the servant is not above his master.   The servants of Beelzebub, want to serve their master so they seek to do greater evil.  They seek to kill, to destroy, and to sactter.  But the students are not their masters only like him.

Christ tells his disciples,  "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household!"   If the master of the household is evil, how much more can the servants of the houshold be.  The servants are not above the master.  Even though they are evil, having been trained or taken on the mindset of the master, they are not above him.  They are like him but not above him.  And the same is true of the disciples.  They are not above their teacher who is Christ, even though they strive to be like him in all ways.  Christ wants his disciples to know who they are facing and how they are to defeat them.  Their battle will not be with the master but with the disciples of the evil one.

They have been trained in preparation for thier journey into the towns and villages.  They have been trained to do battle with the dark forces that have taken over the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  They will encounter evil.  They will encounter darkness.  They will cast out demons.  They will evict evil spirits.  They will cause death to abandon its claim.  They will heal the sick.  But of all the things that they do, they will face only the disciples of the evil master.  And all are servants of the master and not above him but only like him in evil. 

So today, we the disciples of Christ, seek to be like him.  We seek to cast out demons.  We seek to heal the sick.  We seek to cause the lame to walk and the blind to see, based upon the powers that Christ will give us through the Holy Spirit.  We become followers of Christ.  If you do not follow Christ you follow the evil one.  If you do not follow Christ you are a disciple of the devil.  There is no middle ground. 

We are led to believe that we are independent agents.  We live in this world and we seek to be the best that we can be.  We live our lives according to the principals and morals handed down to us by our society.  IF we do not follow the commandments given by Christ then we follow the commandments of the devil.  Those commandments may not be evident to us because they are hidden.  They are disguised to prevent us from knowing that they are evil.  They are hidden in the way we live, the way we speak, the way we think, and the things that we do in the name of our independence.  Society tells us that we can live a life of luxury and passion.  We can have it and eat it at the same time.  There are no boundaries.  Go for it.  Do what you feel.  Be all that you can be.  These are the slogans that we live by.  And they are the slogans that lead us to become disciples of evil.  Are you a follower of Christ or a follower of the devil?  If you are not one then you are the other. 

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:25a, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 2.  

Christ continues to explain to his disciples the principals of pupil and teacher.  In the previous verse he has told them that no disciple is above his teacher nor is a servant above his master.  What he is indicating is that if one calls himself a disciple then he/she is accepting the position of being under a teacher.  And vise versa if one is a teacher then there are pupils under him.  So if Christ is calling his students disciples it means that they are accepting that they are not above their teacher.  These principles are earthly ideals because Christ is of divine nature and everyone is under his teachings.  But Christ is indicating here, the principal of student/teacher relationship.  He is clarifying spiritual relationship.  This is important for the disciples to know because just as they are being trained as disciples to do combat with the dark forces of evil, there are also disciples of the evil one. 

He says to his disciples,  "It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and for the servant to be like his master."   It is sufficient for the pupil to take on the principals taught to him by his teacher thereby becoming like him.   Also it is enough for the servant to accept the mindset of his master thereby becoming like his master.   But the classic human struggle of, freedom vs servitude or pupil exceeding teacher, comes into play.  One does not serve when bound under slavery.  One does not truly give of oneself with a yoke around one's neck.  The service is not truly given but demanded.  So one who is bound under the servitude of slavery does not truly serve.  He/she only gives out of the requirement of their bondage. 

Likewise a pupil who learns from a teacher and then declares himself above the teacher is no longer a disciple, a student, a pupil.  For the declaration states that one knows more than the teacher and therefore is equal to or better than the teacher.  The confusion comes when one thinks of the pupil having received training from his teacher and then achieving greater understanding and greater success than the teacher.  However, the foundation for that success and greater understanding always comes back to the teacher.  One would not have succeeded were it not for the instructions of the teacher.  The pupil is not above the instructor.  The disciple is not above his teacher.

So Christ is giving his disciples principals to do battle by.  The opponents they will face will be disciples of the evil one.  They are not above their teacher but like him at most.  They serve him out of a desire to do evil.  For their service is given willingly out of a desire to do greater evil.  It is enough that the enemy that they will face will be like their master and not above him.  For they have been prepared and trained to do spiritual warfare also.  So Christ gives his disciples encouragement to let them know whom they will face.  They will face disciples of evil.  Do you seek to become the teacher yourself or is it enough that you have become like the master?  Our willingness to serve must come out of our love for him whom we serve. 

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:24, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 1.  

We begin our new paragraph with the relationship between pupil and teacher, between servant and master.  Christ tells his disciples,  "No disciple is above his teacher."   Christ has given his disciples great training.  He has taught them many things about doing battle with the dark forces that they will face.  And his disciples have become great learners in absorbing that information and putting it to practice.  They now see the authority that Christ has given to them.  They are aware of the great power that he has assigned to them for this solo journey that they will make to preach the message of the kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Christ gives them this last bit of information so that they will come to know who they are.  A disciple is a pupil, a follower, a person who adheres to the teachings of the teacher.  The meaning of the word disciple is one who holds to the teachings of his instructor.  To call oneself a disciple of a teacher means that one comes to believe in, one holds to, to accept the teachings of the teacher.  If one thinks that the teachings are not acceptable then one does not hold to those teachings and does not consider himself/herself a disciple.  Christ makes this profound statement here to demonstrate to his disciples that they are pupils if they are accepting of his teachings.  They are followers if they hold to the doctrines that he has given them.  And that simple fact puts them under his teachings, not above the teacher.

When a follower does not accept the teachings of the teacher he puts himself above the teacher in believing that the teachings are in error, incorrect, wrong, without merit.  Yet to be a disciple means that one puts oneself under the teachings of a teacher, one accepts the principles taught by the teacher, one comes under the teacher.  Therefore a pupil is not above his teacher, a disciple is not above his instructor, a follower is not above the one that he follows.  If you call yourself a disciple then you adhere to the teachings of the teacher and you are under the instructor.  Christ further illustrates his meaning by stating,  "Nor is the servant above his master."   

With this statement he makes the same profound point that if one is a servant then one is below his master and not above him.  It seems an obvious statement.  But if we think about the consequences of the statement we can find clarity.  If there is to be a servant, one who is to serve, then there must be a master, one to whom the servant serves.  There must be one above to whom the servant serves.   If the disciples, who are pupils of the teacher, are to serve the people then they must serve at the request of one greater than themselves.  Just as there is a pupil/teacher relationship there is also a servant/master relationship.  One is above the other and the other is below the one. 

These are the roles that the person who calls himself a disciple accepts and holds to.  The position of serving is a position of great humility.  One can accept the position of serving but that aspect of serving being below a master comes as a shock today.  In our times of political and social, and religious freedoms and liberties, one would with difficulty find oneself accepting of a master/servant position.  And yet one does not exist without the other.  If one is to serve, one is a servant.  And being a servant one has a master that one comes under.  No one wants to be a servant lorded over by a master.  The idea brings to mind bondage.  Yet Christ came to earth to serve.  He was born that he may serve all men.  He gave his life for this service.  And his father in heaven was his master whom he accepted as being under.  Can we as servants and followers of Christ accept his teaching that, "No disciple is above his teacher, nor is the servant above his master."