What matters in learning. . . is not to be taught, but to wake up. [A good book] also imparts invaluable information, but in the process it should unquestionably wake any reader up; since it reveals a love and joy in acquiring knowledge, . . . which even the youngest of children may have in a fountain-like abundance - as his incessant rain of questions proves - until, alas, perhaps, he goes to school. (Doorly, The Insect Man, Introduction)
Watch and beware of the leaven [teaching] of the Pharisees and Sadducees. . . . Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. (Matthew 16:6, 15:14)Education in our culture is the end of learning rather than the beginning of learning. Such education is punctuated by certificates, degrees, and awards that indicate achievement in a subject rather than interest in or commitment to a subject. A person often has achieved something with a degree and that is good, but whether that person cares much about the subject after getting their degree is optional and perhaps not even expected.
One of the building blocks of this kind of education is an obsession with proof rather than understanding. Getting proof marks the end of inquiry. Getting understanding marks the beginning of inquiry. Proofs are helpful when they are present, but they are relatively rare and only in subjects of less importance. Understanding grasps the truth more tentatively but with more expansiveness than proof can grasp the truth. Understanding can use truths that are immediately accessible through experience while not provable or even explainable. All to say, a demand for proof is often an indication of a mind that has stopped inquiring, whereas seeking understanding welcomes conversation and questions.
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. Jesus answered them, . . . 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.' So he left them and departed. (Matthew 16:1, 4)In a Bible study one of my daughters was hesitant to share much of anything because the leader kept asking for people to "prove" whatever they said from the Bible. Instead of seeking to understand what people we saying, he was cutting off all inquiry by "testing" the people. What a shame! A time of Bible inquiry became a Bible Inquisition instead. This is an example of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Proof over understanding. Unfortunately typical.
In contrast to such teaching, Jesus asks a question of his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" After they answer, he brings greater understanding with a second question, "But who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:13,15) When Peter answers well, Jesus tells him not that he is right, but that he is blessed. "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Simon Peter had woken up to a new world! The Father revealed what Peter had discovered. Jesus did not just tell them he was Messiah, he allowed them to discover it and his Father to reveal it. In the lives based on this revelation of Jesus by the Father, the gates for hell would not prevail and heaven would be unleashed on earth in a new way. (vv. 18-20)
Peter continues to understand how Jesus teaches when he writes "Set your hope fully on the grace being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:13) The blessing and grace of the Father is in the understanding of Jesus as the One, the Messiah. Such grace and strength from God is evident and victorious in the "tested genuineness of your faith. . . found to result in praise and glory and honor in the revelation of Jesus Christ" even though "you have been grieved by many trials." (vv. 6-7) Peter implies that such revelation is given to those who "search and inquire carefully" like the prophets of old and that those who would be disciples need to "prepare their minds for action," not merely passive acceptance. (v.10, 13) There can be no discovery without revelation, but it seems there can be no revelation without discovery either.
Adequate proof and correctness will come with learning directed at understanding. But seeking proof without understanding ends up with ignorance and blindness. Although Peter had made a true confession of Jesus as the Christ, he and disciples went through a number of failures showing that they did not understand what the confession meant yet. After Peter rebukes Jesus for his revelation of his death and resurrection, Jesus tells him, "You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." (v.23) Peter was talking about Jesus instead of listening to him on the Mount of Transfiguration (17:5). They failed to cast out a demon perhaps because they thought they had it right about Jesus when they actually had lost faith in him and understood him less (v. 20) It seems nothing fails like success.
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