Matthew 23: 8-12 (Our Father and Teacher; His Children and Servants)

V8 – We who believe in Jesus have one teacher, the Lord through his spirit.

John 14:26 NIV – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

There are many times where we tend to exalt some people yet in essence, they are only students who have been taught by the Lord. By his grace, god gives different abilities to us for the edification of the believers and for training in righteousness. When our eyes stop seeing the Pastors, Apostles, Teachers, Evangelists, and Prophets as believers with grace from the Lord to do certain things, we begin giving them the glory that is the Lord’s.

Ephesians 4: 11-13 NLT –  Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

All of us are equal as brothers and sisters.

By exalting people or fellow brethren, we also start to accept all they say without verifying it through scripture and can thus be deceived.  Jesus Christ, our savior, remains to be our teacher.

V9-10 – In the same way, we should not call any person “Father” because God in heaven is our father. No one else deserves that title. It is God whom through Christ Jesus has brought us to salvation through his mighty power and we are now his children.

John 1:12 AMPC – But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—

We are his children if we believe him and continue in that manner to trust him, adhere to and rely on him. As good children, we must obey our father. We praise God because He is perfect and therefore we cannot be at fault when we obey Him. He has no imperfection and He is life in itself. We live by his power and through him and so, we can trust Him the direction He gives. Like in Proverbs, the Lord always says to us:

Proverbs 1:8 NLT – My child, listen when your father corrects you…..

Let us learn to obey Him. If we say we love Him, let us prove that this is true by obeying Him. Those who love him, obey Him and by doing so become more and more like Him because the purpose of his instruction is to make us more and more like Him. His desire is to bring us to “such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” as explained in Ephesians 4:11-13 quoted above.

John 14:15 ESV – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…

V21 GWT –  Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.

V23 GWT–  Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them.

And here is the warning from Jesus

V24 GWT – A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

V11-12 – Jesus here continues speaking in the context of the Pharisees who exalt themselves and love these high positions and respect from the people. He says an important thing – that those who love exaltation will be humbled, and those who love humilty and remain humble, they will be exalted.

It is not in your place to exalt yourself. God exalts those who are humble. And remember, even when He exalts you, still remain humble before Him. Humility and servanthood is a continuous nature which you and I must take on. It never ends.

We are called to be humble and to be servants. Willingly be a like a “slave” to everyone. Serve them without complaining and with joy. Get rid of constant complains and grumbling. These are not from God.

Philippians 2:14-16 – Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.

Embrace forever servanthood. Serve God and his people willingly and joyfully and when you are done, you must still remain humble. These must be your words:

Luke 17:10 NLT – In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

The verses above Luke 17:10 help to ensure we have context. Here is the full text from verses 7-10.

Luke 17:7-10 NLT –  “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

It is your duty to obey Him.  Don’t exalt yourself. It’s not a favor, we are called to obey as faithful servants. And after obeying, we obey more and more, it never ends. Continuous obedience.

(Lord, please forgive me for every time I have exalted myself. Remind me by your word to remain humble and to love to obey you who is my faithful Father. You are a good God, not an unfair master. You are good in your intentions for me because you do It out of a love that even now, I am yet to fully comprehend. As your word says in Ephesians 3:18-19, my prayer is that we all may have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep your love is. May we experience your love Lord Jesus, though it is too great to understand fully. Then we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from you, our God. )