By Joy L Wong

These days, the times when I most realize that good teachers should not be taken for granted is when my daughter asks me for help with her math homework. Despite my own knowledge of the subject matter, in the process of my explanations, somehow she nearly always ends up in tears. I then realize that I should have deferred the matter to my husband, who used to be a math teacher. A few minutes of explanation from him and she understands!

Clearly, good teachers not only know the subject matter that they are teaching, but they know how to explain things in a way that their students will be able to understand (and hopefully, without too much frustration in the process). But if ever there was a teacher with one of the most difficult subject matters to teach, it had to be Jesus. His teachings in regards to his coming suffering and death and what it would mean to all people were incredibly difficult to understand, and his teachings of the Kingdom of God were often surprising even to the learned religious leaders and teachers of the law (ie. Pharisees), and certainly difficult to live out and follow, even for us today.

Case in point — this past year, my son was assigned by his Sunday School teacher to read through the book of John, one chapter every day. This turned into a nightly family habit, where we all read through John together. By the end of the book, my kids were chanting what was so often repeated in the book of John: “Truly, truly, eat my flesh! Truly, truly, drink my blood!” Having been brought up in church, this concept never disturbed or disgusted me before… until now, when my kids were chanting what sounded both funny and gruesome at the same time. Back in the day, it confused the Jewish people and even Jesus’ disciples said to themselves, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60 NIV). But of course — the imagery is horrific indeed!

Because the subject material was so difficult (and quite literally, “out of this world”), I have sympathy for both Jesus as the teacher and his “students” — those who were listening and trying to understand him. It must have been worse than trying to teach calculus to toddlers! You can hear the frustration in Jesus when he says things like, “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?” (Mark 8:17 NIV). On the other hand, when Jesus presents something difficult such as telling the rich young man to “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22 NIV), I also can’t help feeling sympathy for Jesus’ followers and disciples. As a fellow human being, I think to myself, Of course he couldn’t do that! And I inwardly I protest to God, Lord, that’s too hard to do. That’s asking too much!

In spite of my own inward struggle with the difficulty of Jesus’ teachings, the lived reality of God’s presence in my life has not been like that of a frustrated teacher forcing foreign concepts onto his/her students, but rather God in my life has been a Teacher full of patience and acceptance, forgiving me of repeated mistakes, understanding my capacity of understanding and guiding me to make small steps in the right direction, etc. It helps me to understand Jesus not just like any other teacher with knowledge to pass on, but he was a teacher whose words and actions gave life to those around him, who had the authority to heal and deliver, who loved, had compassion, and lived out love as an example for those following him.

It is only in this context of being loved that we can truly learn from Jesus and follow him. The concepts of the Kingdom of God might be the hardest subject for anyone to learn. But we have the very best teacher in Jesus, especially as we are dearly loved by him!

Joy L Wong has been the administrator of the AAWOL (Asian American Women On Leadership) blog since 2009. She holds an M.Div degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a BA in English from Princeton University. She and her family reside in LA county.