Taught by God
May 8, 2025 - Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
John 6:44-51
The statement Jesus refers to—“They shall be taught by God”—comes from the prophet Isaiah (54:13). We see a clear example of this in the apostle Peter. When Peter declared that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 16:17). Peter’s insight did not come from human reasoning but from divine revelation.
We rarely think of God as a teacher, yet that is precisely how Jesus is often portrayed in the Gospels. Jesus loved teaching—whether in synagogues, open fields, or the temple. The Father, too, is a teacher. He gave the Ten Commandments to instruct His people on how to live. He guided Moses in building the sanctuary and arranging the temple liturgy to teach us how to worship Him.
Jesus affirms this when He says, “Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me” (John 6:45). This makes it clear that even faith itself is a gift of grace. Who can come to Jesus? Only those drawn by the Father. The verb "draw" implies that we are either unable or unwilling to come to Jesus on our own. We need the help of God's grace—we need to be drawn to Him.
When Isaiah first proclaimed, “They shall be taught by God,” he envisioned a future age in which God's people would receive direct instruction from Him. Yet, how could this happen? After all, no one can see God. Could they truly hear Him without an intermediary or interpretation?
The first Christians believed they had something the world did not—what they called “the anointing”—the gift of the Holy Spirit. Saint John, in his first letter, writes that because of this anointing, they did not need anyone to teach them: “His anointing teaches you about all things” (1 John 2:27).
Thus, what Isaiah foretold—“They shall be taught by God”—has been fulfilled. The Father revealed to the disciples the true identity of His Son. The disciples were taught directly by Jesus, the Son of God. And even now, the Church continues to be taught by the Holy Spirit, who reminds us of everything Jesus said and leads us into the fullness of truth (John 16:13).
Indeed, we are truly taught by God. The question is—are we willing to listen?