Alex Marintzer
“The opinions expressed by the Tabor College EML student bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Tabor College. Tabor College is also not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information in the post.”
How did Jesus teach?
How does Jesus teach us now?
How should a classroom look?
What would Jesus teach?
What would He find worth teaching?
How would He make us feel while He was teaching?
These are all questions that I have been asking myself the last few days. This picture that I have found off flicker is the image that I get in my head when I picture sharing a classroom with Jesus. I would like to answer these questions in my own opinion of course, by using the five senses. I am going to use the five senses because I want to take you to the classroom where Jesus is, He created the five senses, so they must be a very important way to picture things and imagine how they could be.
Sight: Like this picture, I think that Jesus would teach with His students as close to Him as He could get them. He would be close to their level, looking right into their eyes, making connections with His students by His warm and kind glimmer in His eyes. He would hold one of the youngest students on His lap so that the little ones would never have to miss something hidden behind the older children. While He taught He would have facial expressions that would match His every word, His smile would light up a room and His furrowed brow would tell you of His concern. He would use His arms to tell you that you are in for a lesson that would warm your heart and also the highest point in His lesson. As the student you would be able to see the facial expressions of all of the other students around you, adding depth to a lesson that you wouldn’t get sitting far away from one another. You would see that not only your teacher, Jesus is at ease, making you feel comfortable to make mistakes or take longer to learn but the entire class is at ease with His laid back body language. Now, looking away from your teacher your sights are endless possibilities. Jesus wants to get you out of the classroom so He can show you His creation and how it can speak to you better in person than in a textbook.
Smell: While sitting around Jesus in a circle, you can smell the warmth of the students next to you. You will be so close to your classmates that you will not only get to know what they look like and who they are as an individual but what they smell like. I don’t know about most who will read this, but know that while this probably sounds strange, I actually had the experience of this growing up in a small school where you pretty much had the same classmates for 13 years. I had a friend that lived by and helped out at the pig farm next door, you didn’t have to look at him to know he walked by you. I had another classmate that did his cattle chores in the morning, you also didn’t have to look at him when he walked by. (Yes, there is a difference between pig and cow smell) While this may sound unimportant, I will tell you that that is knowing the people you are growing up with WELL. There is a certain intimacy when we know not only what a person sounds like and looks like, but smells like too. Can you even imagine what our teacher smells like?….I think He would smell like a crisp blowing breeze with honeysuckle, white peonies and a hint of earth. I imagine our teacher always picking flowers for us to smell, having us literally stop and smell the roses or whatever He is wanting us to fully and wholly learn. 
Sound: This one is hard in account of the teachers voice, because don’t we all dream and meditate on what our Father’s voice sounds like?! When I sit back and “listen” to Jesus in the classroom I can hear students excited about learning! The classroom is busy with chatting voices talking about the amazing things that they just learned. They are asking our teacher about what He just taught and His voice in reply to them is calm cool and collected, never even hinting that He is frustrated that some don’t catch on as fast as others, He is just happy they all want to learn. When Jesus is your teacher, all noises are possible; buzzing bees, the sound of a waterfall, the sound of the breeze in the trees, and most importantly Jesus teaches how to hear the Father’s voice and the students eagerly learn how to do this. I can see that Jesus would want to teach His students the importance in taking time to be still and slow enough to hear all of the wonderful sounds that He created, so that they can learn at a deeper level.
In my actual classroom just yesterday, we were done playing at the playground and I noticed that a gate was open near some trees and the pond. It has been raining a lot lately here in Kansas and that seems to get the bullfrogs more active and vocal. So, I walked the class quietly…..well as quiet as a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds can be, close to the water and we listened to the bullfrog. It was so neat to hear their excitement of this activity and the sound the bullfrog made! I think that Jesus would want to have these experiences with His students daily.
Taste: What is better than actually tasting the thing that you are learning about? When I put my daughters up on their step-stools to help me bake my answer to the constant “can I taste this” is pretty much always “yes”. Salt–go for it. Sugarless pie dough–be my guest. Baking soda–have it kids! Buttermilk–please do. How else are they to learn how these ingredients taste individually without actually tasting them?! As a group of students, we walk out into the class garden with Jesus (He would have the best green thumb around) and He would encourage the children to go and taste! Taste the mint leaves, taste the chives, taste the small radish vs. the large radish and lets talk about why they taste so different? What do you think happens in their growth and development that makes them taste so different? I can see Jesus leaning heavily on meal times to teach just as well as any other time, but while we are tasting our different spices, as our taste buds are pleased and excited, Jesus will use this opportunity to teach on how people or things work together to create something even better. How did they taste individually? How do they taste all together in harmony? How are we individually? How are we–our souls–when we are all together in harmony? (but please, don’t taste rhubarb leaves.)
Touch: In my opinion, learning can be achieved at it’s highest point when we can touch. First of all, I believe that Jesus would touch His students, He would hug them and hold the little ones on His lap. He would wipe away tears and give pats on the back for encouragement. While we were in the classroom you would see Jesus asking the students to touch everything that they could, to feel with their finger tips, their cheeks and bottoms of their feet on the subject matter. We cannot possibly teach students that water added to dirt makes this squishy stuff called mud and they fully get what mud is until we have them slip off their shoes to get the mud between their toes (and now you know my secret reason for being a gardener). What is rough? What is smooth? What does compassion feel like physically? Jesus would teach by touching, He would touch us with His gentle, loving hands and heart, He would invite us to touch the world too, with our hands and heart.