PRÉCIS ON THE JOY OF THE TEACHER: YOUR TRIUMPH!

SCRIPTURE. “For who is [the object of] our hope or joy or our victor’s wreath of triumphant celebration [when we stand] in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you? For you are [indeed] our glory and our joy!” – 1 THESSALONIANS 2:19-20, AMP

KEY TERM: “IN HIS PRESENCE.” ‘Emprosthen’ [ἔμπροσθεν]: “Before, in front of (in place or time); before the face (of); in the sight or presence of; [to be found] in the good pleasure of the will of God; to obtain the greater dignity (than those who fail); being in company near or before the face of another; approach face to face the nearness of a great personage; by way of distinction, state of being in view of a superior; (‘I know not by what pow’r I am made bold’).”

QUOTATION. “‘Teaching is a calling too.’ And I’ve always thought that teachers in their way are holy – angels leading their flocks out of The Darkness.” ― JEANETTE WELLS, Half Broke Horses, 2010; edited

COMMENTARY. “We were most anxious to come and stablish you for we should lose all our hope and joy and honours if Christ should Come and we should have lost you … It is the thought of presenting you to Him that thrills us with hope, joy, pride—the thought of wearing such a decoration before Him.” – CHARLES ELLICOTT, An Old and New Testament Commentary for English Readers, 1878, 1897; edited

DK. When I was led to this teaching, I had no idea how deeply it would touch this old man. It captures the heart of Paul the Apostle, the greatest teacher known to mankind, second only to the very Son of Man who taught Paul how and what to teach.

Since I was first rescued by Christ in 1979, I quickly adopted Paul as my role model, the Template against which I would measure myself (Jesus being too scary a Standard to meet, I early on surmised). But here, for the very first time, we see what motivated the Apostle, this august shepherd of so many of God’s flocks then, and of course now.

“After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? ‘It is you!’ Yes, you are our pride and joy.” – New Living Translation

When I understood what Paul was so plaintively pleading here, quiet tears came. This is why the true teacher of God’s Word labors toward ‘Rescue’ of the hearers, beloved. Whether by a gentle adjuration or be yelling at the top of his aged lungs: “Stop, please! That will destroy you!” It is the same goal, as Ms. Wells so tenderly put it:

‘To lead you out of The Darkness!’ And thereby, dear saint or sinner, to stand with you before our Great King in superlative joy and celebration, having trenched through so many trials and losses and tears, and joys too. That Day shall indeed by the very best one forever for the teacher and student, neither shall there ever be one like it ever again.