Good Teacher

Let’s turn to Gospel of John chapter 3 beginning with verse one to three

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:1-3)

Pharisees were one of the leading sects within Judaism. Pharisees took pride in trying to adhere not only to the laws in the Old Testament, but a dizzying array of man-made laws as well. They were respected by the other Jews and enjoyed social, religious and political power in the community. This means that Nicodemus was one of the elite 70 or so members of the Sanhedrin, the political-judiciary-religious body that ruled Israel. Nicodemus was one of the nation's top religious-political teacher.

Though Nicodemus is recognizing that Jesus is a rabbi sent from God with his words, his actions show that he wants to conceal his engagement with him. It sounds pretty gracious and respectful. He calls Jesus not only a "teacher" but one "from God" (John 3:2). Nicodemus doesn't want other members of the ruling council to know he had come to speak with Jesus. He is close to understanding Jesus, but he still cares more about his social status, which means he does not really believe yet. Given the disparity in their relative social status, Nicodemus may have expected Jesus to show some appreciation for the compliments. But Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”Jesus is saying Look, you have no clue because you haven’t been "born again" (John 3:3). The original Greek word translated "again" more commonly means, "from above" often implying heaven. Jesus is saying that Nicodemus "cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3) until he has been born spiritually.

Nicodemus just said he can see what God is doing. Jesus challenges him that no earthly eye can discern what is truly of God. It is only for those who have entered into God's reign in their lives that can truly discern what God’s activity is truly. "Born again" is not an elusive abstracted idea. Jesus is a rabbi. He is giving Nicodemus a picture lesson. A birth is a transition from darkness to light. It is the beginning of a life.  To be born again, is to begin to live anew, as those who have lived much amiss, or to little purpose. We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, and new aims. By our first birth we were corrupt, twisted in sin; therefore we must be made new creatures. Regeneration is a divine miracle that happens from heaven. Nicodemus has physical life. He didn’t contribute to it. He has no spiritual life. He needs it. But he can’t contribute to that either because that’s a work of God that comes only to those who cease trusting in themselves. In divine majesty with one glorious stroke, Jesus obliterates all the sinner’s refuge, all the sinner’s safety in traditionalism, formalism, ceremonialism, legalism, ritualism, ecclesiasticism, and points the barbed arrow of spiritual truth at the vital point. You have to discount all of that. It’s manure. You need to be born again. No stronger expression could have been chosen to signify a great and most remarkable change of state and character. We must be entirely different from what we were before, as that which begins to be at any time, is not, and cannot be the same with that which was before. This new birth is from heaven, 

To have a new birth as a man or woman, must be a birth of the spirit, one that does not happen in the body, but in the spirit. In the heart, will and mind. A conversion over to what Jesus is teaching us about. He is leading us not merely into morality, though that is good, but how to actually know God. The only way to know God is through allowing him to reign so fully in our hearts and minds so that we can actually see him! And like a shepherd, Jesus leads us into this type of kingdom life. A new life into something no humans apart from him have ever experienced. This discourse in John 3 is a critical encounter that will later produce genuine faith.

Now let us explore the unique Title used by Nicodemus  to address Jesus “ Rabbi,” meaning teacher, was, and is, a dignified title given by Jews to doctors of the religious law and distinguished teachers. In the New Testament, it was most often recorded when used by His disciples for Jesus Christ. (John 1:38)

There isn’t a person among us who hasn’t had their lives touched by a particular teacher. Teachers inspire us and help us realize our full potential. They help us to reach our goals, whether these goals are personal, professional or academic. Throughout history, teachers have improved our quality of lives through education and have done so without the need for praise or personal recognition. It is their dedication and hard work that improved the lives of their students and enriched the community in which they lived and worked.

In the history there has never been a teacher like the Lord Jesus. He is the most inflectional and the wisest teacher ever to walk on the earth. He would explain difficult things in ways that made people easy to understand. Every word that He spoke is true. His words are the words of God. It was said of Him, "Never man spoke like this man." The teachings and example of Jesus Christ have inspired the greatest acts of generosity, hospitality, self-sacrifice and service to the poor, sick and needy over two thousand years. The positive impact of Jesus Christ on the world cannot be overstated. Everything from education to human rights, from public health to economic liberty – the things we cherish most and many of the blessings we take for granted – can be traced to the spiritual and the Cultural Revolution begun by Jesus Christ. 

“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or a home.   He didn’t go to college.  He never visited a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.  He had no credentials but Himself.  He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him.  He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.  He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.  While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth.  When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life.”

Jesus' teachings and the retelling of his life story have significantly influenced the course of human history, and have directly or indirectly affected the lives of billions of people, even non-Christians. The stories of Jesus of Nazareth recorded in the Gospels are attributed to four disciples: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Without these sources, we would know little about the historical Jesus. Yet, the Gospels are not biographies or history in the strict sense of the word. They are faith documents witnessing to Christian belief in Jesus as Son of God. Although based on eye-witness accounts of Jesus, the Gospels combine facts with faith, history with theology, events with interpretation. They each provide a different portrait of Jesus that is more a revelation than historical scholarship. This is why biblical scholars distinguish the Jesus of the Gospels from the Jesus of history. Certainly, there is relationship between the two, but each Gospel develops a particular portrait of Jesus according to its own set of inspiration, memories, understandings and revelation. Each portrait highlights diverse facets, accounts and interpretations of the historical Jesus without attempting to provide an accurate or detailed biography.

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT JESUS Christ is the greatest man who has ever lived in all of history.  He changed the world forever. When He was born, He transformed the very way we measure time.  He turned aside the river of the ages out of its course and lifted the centuries off their hinges. His Incarnation touched and transformed time.  Now the whole world counts time as Before Christ (BC) and AD (Anno Domoni – in the year of our Lord).  Jesus Christ is the central figure of history.  More books have been written about Jesus Christ than any other person in history. 

1. The portrait of Jesus Teacher

Let us go to the New Testament, in the Gospels in particular. The title given to this section, "Jesus, Divine Master," allows us now to build a true and proper profile of the figure of Jesus as didàskalos. In the New Testament the term didàskalos is used 58 times, 48 of which are in the Gospels, mostly applied to Jesus; and the verb didàskein, to teach, 95 times two thirds of these are use in the gospels and also in this case, prevalently applied to Jesus. Hence Jesus is the "master" par excellence of the Christian community.

This portrait could be sketched in three features. 1st. Jesus is called rabbi. Two passages among many, like for example Mk 9:5 and 10:51. He is a rabbi who speaks in public, like the teachers were doing in Israel: in synagogues, in squares, in the temple. Jesus is a teacher surrounded by mathetài, that is, by the disciples; he has a school. Jesus chooses his disciples. It is the exact opposite of what the rabbis were doing. In his Last Supper speech, Jesus told the disciples: "You did not choose me, I chose you" (Jn 15:16).

2nd. Jesus is an authoritative teacher. Mark’s statement is to the point (1:22): "He taught them with authority, not like the scribes." He is a teacher stands not with the power of authority, but with the authority of authoritativeness. Another passage from Mark (12:14) is very significant: "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth." This is a stupendous portrait of the true teacher, who does not bend his knees, who does not teach according to convenience.

3rd. The root of his teaching is transcendent. Two passages are emblematic in this sense: Jn 8:28: "I say only what the Father has taught me (didàskein)." And Mt 11:27: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." The teaching of Jesus is the teaching of the mystery of the Father and so, it is a transcendent teaching.  In summary: Jesus is a historical Teacher who uses the techniques of world wherein he is a part (the parables, for example), but he has something different and original, like the choice of disciples. Furthermore, he is an authoritative and free teacher; finally, he is a transcendent teacher who teaches a truth that goes beyond the boundaries of human knowledge and originates from a revelation.

The Five qualities of Jesus teacher

1) Christ is teacher of the fundamental Truth of the kingdom of God and the perfect Announcer of the substance of the Kingdom message. As an example, the first preaching of Jesus is enough. Naturally, it is edited according to the theology of the Synoptics. We find it better formulated in Mark (1:15). The contents of the proclamation of Jesus are four elements: two according to the theological dimension and two, according to anthropological dimension.

A) "This is the time of fulfillment," better yet, according to the Greek pleroùn, time has reached its fullness. Christ affirms that he came in order to give meaning to history.

 B) The kingdom of God is at hand." The Greek term énghiken(from the verb engùzein) deserves a certain attention because it has various meanings: first of all the verb is in the perfect tense hence it points to the past: it means that the reign of God has already been acted upon, has already taken place, restored in Christ. The perfect tense in Greek, however, indicates to an action of the past whose effect lasts into the present. Hence it means that the reign of God is still in action today. Furthermore, the verb, semantically, indicates something that refers to the future: it is near, it is about to take place. And so it is underlined that the reign of God embraces all the dimensions of the history of salvation. We belong to today and yet we participate in a past event whose effect dynamically acts today, in the expectation of fullness that is of that nearness which is always sin action and which will be completed only at the end of history. The kingdom of God means God’s project of salvation that runs across history. These are the two dimensions of God’s action that Jesus Master proclaims: "time has its fulfillment in me," and "it is time that everything is to be radiated from God’s kingdom," that is, by the action and by the project of joy, of freedom and of hope that Jesus has come to proclaim. As a consequence:

C) Repent, be converted. It is the reaction that the believer, the disciple must have: change mentality and life after having listened to this lesson.

D) And believe in the gospel, so it is said in Greek. Re-transcribing the Hebrew, because in the Bible the verb to believe, amen, supports the preposition be-, and hence it indicates a "leaning on" (literally "to be founded on"): let your lives be founded on the gospel. Thus, in this first great lesson of Christ, Master of the proclamation, we find also the contents of our proclamation: we must proclaim the kingdom. And this proclamation generates conversion and faith; it must be received in faith and in life.

2)   Jesus is a wise teacher, who uses the parable, the symbol, the narration, the paradox, the striking image. Here reading the Gospels is enough: there is no need to add much else. Concerning our squalid, dull, modest preaching that passes over the heads of the faithful, Jesus spoke, as how one scholar has said, by passing from the feet, from the hands, from the dust on the earth. Let us, for example, consider Luke 11:12: "What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?" Jesus speaks from a living context: in Palestine there is a scorpion – the Palestinian white scorpion, poisonous – large like an egg, and nests among desert stones. Starting from this image, Jesus builds in a figurative manner his lesson on the love of the Father. If you ask him for an egg, he will never give you a scorpion that poisons you. Another example: Jesus must represent his own death and his salvific role; theologians would use (and rightly) all the categories of soteriology; but then the faithful would remain unsatisfied. Jesus, instead, starts with the grain (Jn 12:24): "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." Dying and entering the sepulchre, compared with the death of the seed, to which follows the stalk and the ear, expresses the Paschal fruitfulness of Christ’s death, and also of the believer.

His parables are exemplary: how can we explain love better than how the parable of the good Samaritan does: And do it above all with that shifting of accent, from the objectiveness of the neighbor: "And who is my neighbor?" to subjectiveness: "Is it he who has behaved like a neighbor?" that establishes a radical difference in the Christian moral vision. Likewise the parable of the ten virgins for the eschatological tension. The parables of Jesus start always from the concrete story, from life: sons in crisis, gatekeepers at night, labor relations (the parable of the workers of the vineyard), corrupt judges, weather forecasts, the woman of the house, fishermen, farmers, moths, birds, lilies, etc. This manner of speaking brings the Word of God into the inside of workaday life and making it fruitful. And Jesus was also a great teacher in this.

3)  Jesus is a patient teacher, who adjusts himself to our slow journey, that is, of our learning slowly. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus is presented to us as a "progressive" teacher who slowly brings his disciples to the light by passing through the darkness of forms of human resistance. First, he leads them to the recognition of his messiahship ("You are the Christ," Mk 8:27-29) and then he unveils for them the fullness, at the end of the gospel, when the pagan Roman centurion, having arrived at faith, says: "Truly this man was the son of God" (15:39). But how long a journey one must make! The journey of the cross. Jesus, who is a "progressive" teacher, makes us pass from darkness to the light in a disturbing manner, but patiently and slowly. Chapter 9 of John (the man born blind) illustrates this journey with the Christological titles used in progression. It starts with "a certain man named Jesus" and arrives at the last saying: "I believe, kyrie, credo, O Lord". By now, comes the discovery of Jesus as the kyrios par excellence, that is, like God.

4)  Jesus was also a prophetic teacher, When Jesus began His public ministry in Nazareth, He read Isaiah's prophecy (61:1) and told the people in the synagogue that He had come to fulfill the prophecy. The Spirit of God had anointed Him to "evangelize" the poor as well as "proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour" (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus' whole prophesied ministry was a ministry of prophetical fulfillment. Jesus said "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." There we have the actualization! The prophet teaches where we ought to walk while we are in history, in the present. Thus comes the definition of Jesus according to Lk 24:19) (in the journey to Emmaus): "Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people." He was a prophet strong in works and in words: this is the prophetic Jesus master. “The Essential Jesus,” which has focused on the themes & events during Jesus’ public ministry. At the end of this (roughly) 3 and a half year ministry, Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. Immediately following His resurrection, & over the course of the next 40 days, He appeared to many of His followers at various times and in various places to confirm the fulfillment of OT Prophesy that the Messiah would rise from the dead.

5)  Jesus is the supreme teacher, he is the Divine Master. How the prophets of the Old Testament did proclaim their message? They declared: The Lord says," that is, I am the mouth of the Lord. Jesus took this phrase, declared "I say to you;" "in the past, it was said… but I say to you, an effective, imperative, and extreme word. And it is in this sense that we have to comprehend the saying, "I am the way, the truth and the life."  John reports (14:26) the words of the Jesus’ Last Supper on earth: the Father shall send, in the name of Christ, the Holy Spirit, "he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you". Who then is the Divine Master who continually works within us now, in the Church and in individuals and in the community" He is the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the Christ’s name, in order "remind." Biblical memory is not a pale evocation, it is not a commemoration of a national holiday, but it is the living, working memory, the celebratory and effective memorial

The greatest Teacher who ever lived

Jesus is the greatest Teacher who ever lived. He taught the highest truths that were ever taught. He promoted the purest ideals that were ever presented. He gave the greatest wisdom that men ever heard. He was the wisest of men and the greatest of men. His principles can be studied but never refuted. His lessons, if followed, will make people perfect. His instructions, if followed, will make people holy. His spiritual insights, if applied, will make for a healthier and happier person on the inside and a better person to be around on the outside!  Jesus taught us everything we need to know to live a good life here and prepare for a great afterlife. There is no teacher in the history of the world that has come close to Jesus in power, purity, practicality, and purpose.

There is no culture in the world where the teachings of Christ have gone that has not been transformed or improved and the greater the teaching was applied the greater the improvement! There is not one single instance of someone practicing what Jesus taught and him becoming the worse for it. There is nothing that can be said about the teachings of Jesus but that following them makes for a better society, a safer neighborhood, and a more wholesome environment. Being a disciple of Christ not only improves the disciple, it improves the neighbor’s life too.

His Example was the Greatest Example. His Teachings were the Greatest Teachings. His Impact was the Greatest Impact. Jesus was not just a Teacher; he is, forever, THE TEACHER!!! Jesus was not just passing out knowledge; he was instilling WISDOM. While Moses gave rules, Jesus taught us relationships. His two great commandments were really two great heart attitudes: " love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:" and “love thy neighbor as thyself."

He did not give a long list of do’s and don’ts but rather taught in parables. More than giving precepts, he was giving concepts. His aim was to transform behavior by transforming the inner man. His teachings were not legal as much as philosophical. He was not leading his disciples to comply with laws as much as he was concerned with fixing flaws! He said "It is what comes out of the heart that defiles a man". Fix the heart and you fix the man!

Today, Jesus' words are our source of truth. His teachings serve to give us a better way to think and a better way to live. To fail to learn the teachings of Jesus is to fail entirely in one’s education. Even if there were no heaven to gain; even if there were no hell to shun; if this life were the only life we had, the world would be a better place if everyone thought like Jesus taught us to think and lived like Jesus taught us to live.

The world before Christ was a world without hospitals, a world without charity, a world without respect for the sanctity of life. Hospitals were an innovation of Christianity. Hence the healing symbol of a cross represents hospitals. The nursing profession was founded by Christians such as Florence Nightingale out of devotion for Christ. One of history's greatest humanitarian movements, the International Red Cross, was founded by Christians in response to the Scriptural injunctions to care for the sick and the suffering. Christians such as Dr. Louis Pasteur have fuelled some of the greatest practical advances in medicine. Pasteur has probably saved more lives than any other individual in history through his inventions.

The whole concept of charity was a Christian innovation. Benevolence to strangers was unknown before Christ. The teachings and example of Jesus Christ have inspired the greatest acts of generosity, hospitality, self-sacrifice and service for the poor, sick and needy over two thousand years. The positive impact of Jesus Christ on the world cannot be overstated. Everything from education to human rights, from public health to economic liberty - the things we cherish most and many of the blessings we take for granted - all can be traced to the spiritual and the Cultural Revolution begun by Jesus Christ.

The irrefutable fact is that Christianity gave birth to modern science. The scientific revolution began with the Protestant Reformation and the Bible played a vital part in the development of scientific discovery. Every major branch of science was developed by a Bible believing Christian. The Bible essentially created science. When we get into a car, start the engine, turn on the lights, drive to a hospital, receive an anaesthetic before an operation, and have an effective operation done in a germ-free environment, we need to remember that we owe it all to Jesus Christ.

Every school you see - public or private, religious or secular - is a visible reminder of the religion of Jesus Christ. So is every college and university." The phenomenon of education for the masses has its roots in Christianity. The pursuit of the knowledge of God in a systematic, philosophical and in-depth way gave rise to the phenomenon of universities all around the world. It was the Christian faith that gave rise to the very idea of higher learning.

Most of the languages of the world were first set to writing by Christian missionaries. The first book in most languages of the world has been the Bible. Christianity has been the greatest force for promoting literacy worldwide throughout history.

The Christian missionary movement in the 19th Century pioneered tens of thousands of schools throughout Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands - providing education for countless millions, even in the remotest jungles, giving the gift of literacy to tribes which had never before had a written language.

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ was the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. When He spoke, "They were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority…" Mark 1:22. The life, teachings and example of Jesus Christ have profoundly influenced the whole development of education worldwide. The Great Commission of our Lord Jesus was to "make disciples of all nations…teaching them…" Matthew 28:19-20.

From the very beginning Christians were establishing schools. Amongst the many innovations in Christian Education was that these Christian schools taught everybody, including girls and women. Formally educating both sexes was a Christian innovation. The Greeks and Romans before the birth of Christ did not formally educate girls. Only boys from the privileged classes obtained an education. Christianity revolutionized education by making it available to all classes and both genders.

Every branch and level of education was pioneered by Christian’s missionaries. The concept of graded levels of education was first introduced by a German Lutheran, Johan Sturm in the 16th Century. Another Lutheran, Frederick Froebel introduced kindergartens. Education for the deaf was also pioneered by Christians.

Before Jesus Christ, human life in the Greek and Roman world was extremely cheap. Infants born with physical defects such as blindness, were commonly abandoned to die in the wilderness. In Greece, blind babies were cast into the sea. Those who survived their blind infancy, or became blind later in childhood usually became galley slaves, and blind girls were commonly assigned to a life of prostitution.

However, Jesus Christ showed particular compassion for the blind, healing many blind individuals during His ministry on earth. When the Roman persecution of the Church ended, in the 4th Century, Christians established asylums for the blind. In the 19th Century, Louis Braille, a dedicated Christian who lost his eyesight at age three, developed the worlds first alphabet that enabled blind people to read with their fingers.

Sunday schools were begun by Robert Raikes in 1780 to provide boys and girls from the poorest homes with the gift of literacy and the riches of the Scriptures. The first universities grew out of the monastic missionary centers, which had discipled Europe. The first university lecturers were the missionary monks who had collected books, accumulated libraries and copied manuscripts. They were uniquely equipped for advanced academic study. Most universities began as Christian schools, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, Heidelberg and Basel.

The greatest invention in the field of learning, the printing press, by Johannes Gutenberg, was also a fruit of the Christian faith. The first book to be printed was the Bible.

The very name "university" testifies to its Christian origins. University means "One Truth". Isn't it time that teachers, lecturers and professors took an in depth look at the greatest Teacher the world has ever known, the greatest Book ever produced and the Faith which inspired and pioneered every major branch of education and science?.

Just consider some of the every-day things, which have been inspired by the Bible. The word "breakfast" comes from the concept of breaking the fast.

The word "restaurant" comes from Jesus' promise in Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." The first restaurant founded in Paris in 1766 placed that verse from Matthew 11:28 in bold letters outside this first public establishment dedicated to providing meals in a pleasant atmosphere.

The fact that our week consists of seven days is a testimony to the fact of God creating the world in six days, resting on the seventh.

The practice of Sunday being a Day of rest dates back to the Christian tradition of honouring the first day of the week as the Lord's Day, a testimony to the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week.

Every time a newspaper publishes the date, it is a testimony to the centrality of Christ. When we call this the year 2013, we are acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the central focus of history. This is the year 2013 AD, 'in the year of our Lord'.

The very word "goodbye" comes from a parting prayer: God be with ye.

The word "holiday" comes from holy day.

The Bible, particularly the Ten Commandments, laid the framework and legal foundations of Western civilization. The very first statute, the first written restriction on the powers of government was the Magna Carta of 1215. It was written by a pastor and thoroughly saturated with Scriptural principles.

The Bible has inspired the greatest literature, the greatest art, the greatest examples of architecture, the age of exploration, world missions, the rule of law, the separation of powers, checks and balances, representative government, the sanctity of life, and so much more that we take for granted.

Christianity introduced a respect for life and liberty that was completely unknown before the coming of Jesus Christ.In the ancient world, the teachings of Jesus Christ halted infanticide, liberated women, abolished slavery, inspired the first charities and religious organizations, created hospitals, established orphanages and founded schools.In the medieval times, Christianity built libraries, invented colleges and universities, dignified labour and transformed the barbarians.In the modern era, Christian teaching has advanced science, inspired political, social and economic freedom, promoted justice and provided the greatest inspiration for the most magnificent achievements in art, architecture, music and literature. Lord Jesus Christ has been the most powerful person in transforming society for the better across 2000 years. No other teacher, philosophy, teaching, nation or movement has changed the world for the better as Christ has done. Beyond a shadow of a doubt we can conclude that Jesus Christ is the greatest teacher who has ever lived.