Sages , Students, and Rebels: How to Tell the Difference

Our Sages said explicitly, "Between [honoring] his father and his teacher, his teacher comes first. "The Sages have already explained that it is forbidden for a student to dispute his teacher, i.e. to reject his authority, to give separate interpretations, and to teach or issue rulings without his permission. It is forbidden for him to argue with him, or speak angrily to him, or to judge him harshly, i.e. to give any kind of [non-literal] explanation to his action or speech, since it is possible that this was not his intention.

Sefer Hamitzvot in English
Respecting the Sages
Positive Commandment 209
Chabad.org

I can agree with that as far as it goes. When you agree to come under the authority of a Rebbe or a Sage, you agree to "the rules of conduct", so to speak, including the Sage's right to issue rulings, and your responsibility to treat him with the respect and honor that is his due. It would be foolish of a student or disciple to make such an agreement and then dispute and argue against the Rebbe at every turn. It would be (to use an extreme example) as if Peter, John, and other members of Yeshua's (Jesus's) inner circle were to get in his face and disagree with his directives and his commandments. Why bother becoming a Rebbe's disciple if you aren't there to learn from him?

However, this also means you should do your homework on the Sage and his teachings before hand. I can't speak to the nature and character of the teachers operating in 1st century "Roman Judea", but I know for certain that today in both the "Messianic" and "Christian" movements (and in the places where they overlap), there are many so-called "teachers", Pastors, leaders, and self-styled "Rabbis" who are not reliable or honest scholars, and who have assumed positions of authority over groups, not to sanctify the Name of God and to teach others of His ways, but to glorify themselves, create a personal power base and, in some situations, to make money off the deal.

Sadly, many of these "teachers" will misuse the commandments to try and make themselves "criticism-proof". I've seen it happen more than once:

Our Sages said in the Talmudic chapter "HaChelek", "Anyone who goes against his teacher is as if he went against the Divine Presence., as it is written [regarding Korach], 'when they rebelled against G-d,'"; "Anyone who makes a dispute against his teacher is as if he made a dispute against the Divine Presence, as it is written, 'These are the Waters of Dispute where the Israelites disputed with G-d'"...

We have sections of the Torah (Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Deuteronomy 18:20-22) that teach about a false prophet, but what do you do about a false teacher? We see in both the Torah and the Apostolic Scriptures that we are to revere a Sage and to treat a leader with respect:

Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people. -Exodus 22:28

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. -1 Timothy 5:1-2

The commentary of Paul in 1 Timothy 5 can be applied to Sages and teachers since the Talmud interprets respecting the aged person (Leviticus 19:32) in the same manner. But while I cannot find (at least in this limited study) a Torah or Talmudic provision for dealing with a less-than-sincere leader or teacher, Paul offers one to the Messianic community:

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” (Deuteronomy 25:4) and “The worker deserves his wages.” (Luke 10:7) Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. -1 Timothy 5:17-21

Here, Paul continues the general theme of honoring a teacher and a leader, but he also acknowledges that a leader can sin, and offers the congregation the ability to respond when a leader strays outside of behaving in accordance to the position of authority they have been granted by God.

In our modern, western culture, we have a strong history of defending the rights of the individual and questioning authority figures, sometimes to an extreme. Human beings tend towards abusing power when they acquire it (just look at the arena of politics) and even entering leadership with the best possible motives, an honest person can be seduced by the allure of self-gratification and thus abuse their authority and the people they are to be serving.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” -Mark 9:35

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. -John 13:12-17

More so than any other teacher who has ever walked, the great Rebbe Yeshua of Nazareth deserves high honors and authority and his teaching is not to be questioned. Yet he humbled himself to wash the feet of his own disciples (and humbled himself even to death for the sake of many) to illustrate to them, and to us, the proper role of the teacher.

As a mentioned before, we are used to, as a culture, questioning and disobeying rightful authority and to "having our say" and "standing our ground". While this is sometimes necessary, our "rights" can easily become a barrier to obeying the example of the Jewish Messiah in humbling ourselves before God and before His Sages (and remember what Paul said about not showing favoritism to one person as leader over another), so that we might learn his good and upright ways. Be a responsible student. Choose a teacher wisely. If you discover you've come under the authority of one not fit to teach or lead, Paul has provided a method of addressing such a person. Beyond that, if you've selected your teacher carefully, then obey the commandment and do not rebel. Most of all, do not rebel against the Rebbe to whom we are all disciples.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.