Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 5 Study # 29
May 18, 2008
Lincolnton, NC
(437)
AV Translation:
40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
1901 ASV Translation:
40 The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher.
Luke's Record:
- I. The Issue Jesus Addressed.
- A. In Psalm 119:99, the psalmist claimed that, because the testimonies of God were the object of his meditations, he had grown in understanding beyond all of his teachers.
- B. Clearly, Jesus was not denying the psalmist's claim.
- C. In this context, Jesus is addressing the desire many men have to be "superior" to others.
- 1. The word "disciple" first shows up in Luke's "context" at 5:30 where the Pharisees are bent out of shape over the behavior of the disciples of Jesus.
- 2. Closer to our text is 6:13 where Jesus chose Twelve out of the group of His disciples.
- 3. And closer yet is 6:20 where Jesus deliberately addresses His words on this occasion to His "disciples".
- 4. The most obvious implication is that Jesus knows there are people within His "group" who do not consider Him to be Who and What He is because they still wish to be the ones who "control" their own lives. If a person can consider himself superior to another, he/she can easily dismiss anything that "other" says that runs contrary to what he/she actually intends to do.
- D. The word translated "master" in the AV and "teacher" in the ASV is a word that focuses upon "teaching", but is used by Luke of "authorities" in the realm of knowledge.
- 1. It first shows up in Luke at 2:46 where Jesus is discovered by Joseph and Mary in the Temple after three days of searching. He is "hearing" and "asking questions of" the "Teachers".
- 2. The next time Luke used it is 3:12 where John is given this title by those who wish to know how they should act as "forgiven ones".
- 3. Our present text is the third time Luke uses the word in his record.
- 4. The very next text is Luke 7:40 which is a setting in which one of the "superior" ones actually calls Jesus, "Master", with no intention of actually learning anything from Him.
- 5. Every other time Luke uses the word, it is in situations where Jesus is the One identified by it -- sometimes by people who meant it and sometimes by people who were using it as a sly form of attempted seduction or to attempt to gain some of the "glory" that was His by being associated with Him.
- E. The word "perfect" is only used by Luke in this text and context. It was used by Paul on a regular basis to refer to the process of bringing order out of chaos. Its implication is that the "disciple" has a lot of "problems" in the area of relating to the will of God and the "teacher" is enabling him/her to come to terms with all of the will of God. The lives of the children of Adam, regenerated into the children of God, are a chaos filled mess that is only corrected as people believe God's words in regard to their circumstances.