Written by Jeremy S. Adams |
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Classrooms have become emotive enclaves of a stark student-centered universe. This pivot towards the teacher-cum-protector role has colossally diminished the authority of the everyday classroom teacher because it has transformed the way students look at us. They are difficult to impress these days because the things that once commanded respect and imbued authority—intellectual achievement, virtuous behavior, classroom dynamism, prodigiousness, substantive life experiences—no longer attract the high regard they once did.

“I learned ancient Greek just so I could read Aristotle in his own language.”
It was early in the fall semester of my freshman year of college and we were reading a passage from Aristotle’s Politics in a political philosophy seminar. In addition to learning Aristotle’s view that man “is a political animal,” this divulgence from my young, first-year professor was neither a verbal thunderclap nor a haughty declaration. It was an offhanded remark, uttered as a trivial aside. As usual, he radiated confidence without the slightest hint of ego. His mastery of Greek wasn’t a topic of conversation among my classmates and no one ever mentioned it again. And yet, almost 30 years later, I can still recall experiencing a subtle pulse of enthrallment.
Granted, it did seem a little odd to my 18-year-old self. Was Aristotle so earth-shattering and profound he merited this type of Herculean effort? I was too ignorant at the time to be impressed. I didn’t know until much later how much harder Greek is to master than Latin, with its mercurial alphabet, foreign declensions, unique conjugations, and Byzantine rules of grammar. I now understand why people devote years of their lives in pursuit of this particular linguistic treasure from antiquity. And not just to read Aristotle. Goethe considered Homer to be superior to the Gospels.
Of course, not all the teachers from my youth were this impressive. Most were forgettable. Teachers try to make an impression, but as the decades pass most of our teaching moments are mentally tucked away into a few fleeting images. Our students might remember who wrote the Federalist Papers or how to write down the Pythagorean theorem, but that doesn’t mean they remember the moment they learned it or who taught it to them.
Still, most teachers radiated a genuine sense of authority. Children, by and large, once looked to their elders for answers to their most important questions. They did so for a simple reason: adults were recognized as depositories of guidance, or even wisdom. They knew what a youthful mind needed to master because they, too, were once young. In the course of life, adults had fallen in love and knew about rapture, longing, and the many ecstasies and agonies of the heart. They had made friends and lost friends and occasionally eulogized their friends. Many fought in bruising wars, marched against injustices, and still sensed the goodness of American idealism. They climbed mountains, walked trails, read dense books, memorized impactful poems, and knew what it meant to aspire and dream. They had first-hand experience with frailty of the body, myopia of the mind, and hubris of the spirit. They could detect the difference between true leadership and empty demagogy. They knew what was truly important, what was genuinely frivolous, and appreciated the scarce commodity of time.
As they aged, these adults sensed the seriousness of life. They recognized answers were “out there,” in the nectar and lemon juice of life, in the grasp of adventure and endless engagement—the answers were never found in the monotony of petty amusements or the prison of mindless distraction. But most extraordinary, if these adults happened to be teachers, they drew on their lives to bring the classroom to life. This is what the best teachers always do.
There are extremes, of course. When famed Yale English professor Harold Bloom died a few years ago, it was fondly remembered that he had all 10,000 lines of Milton’s “Paradise Lost” committed to memory, word for word. Conservative political theorist Harry Jaffa supposedly had a memory that was nothing less than encyclopedic, capable of retrieving long passages of dense texts from books he had read decades earlier.
In my own educational journey, there were plenty of impressive teachers who radiated authority without having to master ancient Greek or memorize the entirety of a canonical text. My freshman English teacher in high school, who also happened to be my father, could diagram complex sentences and had long sections of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar memorized. Many of my professors in college were respected scholars in their academic fields. The president of my university was a world-renowned expert in the work of Danish existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Authority was not in short supply.
Which is why I remember feeling a strong and buoyant desire as a student to impress these men and women. I wanted to contribute meaningfully to a class discussion, or write a cogent paper, or elicit a laugh during office hours. I wanted more than just a good grade or empty praise; I wanted them to see me as substantive, praiseworthy, and laudable. I wanted to earn their approval and affirmation, not because it was owed, but because it was freely given. I would have done almost anything to avoid disappointing them. As Adam Smith wrote in the Theory of Moral Sentiments, “To a real wise man, the judicious and well-weighed approbation of a single wise man gives more heartfelt satisfaction than all the noisy applauses of ten thousand ignorant though enthusiastic admirers.”
A Sinister Replacement
Modern education has replaced authority with empty adoration. It now encourages “ignorant” and “enthusiastic” admiration of children who frankly do very little to earn it. We have a lot of “noisy applauses” but precious little “well-weighted approbation.”
What caused the death of authority in the classroom? The answer is really quite simple: both the teachers and the students. In the time since I first started teaching over two decades ago, a radical reformulation has taken place in our midst.
The educational universe has slowly tilted away from its original mission of transforming and improving the inner fiber of young people. It used to be understood that because life is difficult, because success is fleeting, because relationships are enigmatic, and because our bodies and minds constantly disappoint us, a good life requires strength in all of its forms—moral, physical, intellectual. It is why character is destiny. It is why high expectations are a blessing. Life is tragic, yes, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a tragedy. We can successfully confront the world by improving ourselves.
While certainly not as important as the home or the chapel, the classroom used to be an important ingredient in the shaping and eventual ripening of a young person’s inner nature. Until quite recently, the world and the broader universe itself were considered fixtures to confront, not canvases to improve.
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Jesus turns our world’s ways on their head. For those of us with nothing to boast in, it is wonderful news. But for those who have spent our lives scrambling to be near the front of the queue, it is a sharp rebuke and challenge. The question Jesus presses upon me is, ‘Have I come like a child, empty handed, laying aside everything that gives me status?’ And if I have, does that continue to be the way I live in the kingdom, resolutely refusing to play the status game?

One of the enduring images of Jesus in the minds of many is of Jesus surrounded by children, some sitting on his knees with his arms around them. It may raise eyebrows in our ‘safe space’ world, but it captures an attractive aspect of the Jesus we meet in the Gospels. But if Jesus’ disciples had had their way, it would not have happened.
The incident is reported Mark 10:13–16. People are bringing young children to Jesus. The parents (I presume) recognise that Jesus is much more than another travelling preacher. They think his touch and blessing carry weight. But the disciples attempt to stop it. I have some sympathy for the disciples. They finally recognised that Jesus is important. He is the Messiah (Mk 8:29), the long-promised king God was going to send to crush their enemies and bring all the benefits of his victory and rule. He has arrived: the most important person in the world! And they are the inner circle. So they take it upon themselves to shape his itinerary.
Imagine that Jesus was going to be in your town or city for a weekend, and you were in charge of his itinerary. Who would make the cut? The Prime Minister? The business tycoons? The bishops and moderators? The University professors? They would be on my list. Would you include children? Certainly not! Grubby, noisy, unpredictable kids—keep them away from Jesus. They are not important, they are not the influencers, it would not be a good use of Jesus’ time and attention.
The disciples think Jesus will be pleased with their discernment. But Jesus is furious with them.
We Can Be So Wrong
They got Jesus and his kingdom totally wrong. The kingdom he is bringing belongs to people like these children. Jesus is more than willing to give his time and attention to children. Don’t stop them. Don’t even hinder them.
In our sentimentality, it would be easy to stop here. Let’s value the children in our families, in our communities, and in our churches. Grubby they may be, but they are precious and they are the future. Give me a child and I will shape the adult. But Jesus has something sharper and more significant to say to us adults: ‘Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it’ (verse 15). These are strong words. They encompass everyone regardless of race or sex or age or education or religion. They encompass all time (‘never enter’), and so speak about every person’s eternal destiny in the kingdom of God.
Becoming Like a Child
What does Jesus mean by, ‘receive the kingdom of God like a child’? What aspect of childlikeness does Jesus have in mind? There have been many suggestions.
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A pattern notable in the Old Testament is the distress/deliverance motif, sometimes depicted directionally with descent/ascent language. The story of Jonah features such a motif, and it even includes a three-day reference for the prophet’s deliverance. Just as Jonah was in the fish for a period of days associated with the number three, so too was Jesus in the grave until the third day.

Matthew 12 is packed with powerful claims. In Matthew 12:6, Jesus said, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” And he was referring to himself. In 12:8, “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Again, he was referring to himself. In 12:29, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?” Yes, Jesus is the stronger man plundering the evil one’s domain. In 12:42, “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” Who is greater than Solomon? You only need one guess.
Among the incredible statements from Jesus in Matthew 12, we read of the prophet Jonah in Matthew 12:38–41. The reason Jesus brings up Jonah is because God literally brought up Jonah from the belly of a fish in Jonah 2:10. Soon Jesus would descend into death and then ascend through a victorious resurrection, and the story of Jonah provided the descent/ascent pattern that foreshadowed the Messiah’s work.
The story of Jonah had a typological function. In other words, Jonah’s experience was a type (or prophetic pattern) of Christ. I’ve written about typology on this site before (see here and here and here), and I’ve written about Jonah as well (see here and here). For a book-length treatment of typology, check out 40 Questions About Typology and Allegory.
My claim about Matthew 12:38-41 is that Jesus is reading the story of Jonah typologically. Some scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign (12:38), Jesus responded by calling them an evil and adulterous generation, and he told them that no sign would be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah (12:39).
What about Jonah’s life did Jesus have in mind? “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40).
The correspondence between Jonah and Jesus involves the descent-and-ascent pattern. Differences in the stories are obvious.
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