Well,
I’m not real pleased with where my thoughts have led me. Thinking about Jesus and what it means to be
his follower, at the same time, has not left me feeling so kindly toward Jesus
or myself. Jesus wants us to love our
enemies, bless those who curse us, share our stuff and ourselves with others,
forgive others, be a blessing to others, turn the other cheek, and . . . well,
he just never quits.
Were
Jesus and his chroniclers around today, his teachings and expectations would
surely be different—different as in more fitting to our time. Surely, the things he said to a poor people
in ancient Palestine have nothing really to say to us. He would understand that without the things
we have today, we just can’t make it . . . and not even Jesus could love some
of the people with whom we have to deal.
Surely
those extremely liberal scholars are right and not all this stuff in the
Gospels really comes from Jesus. Jesus,
who loves me and saves me and wants the best for me, really wouldn’t expect me
to sacrifice. After all, he has already
paid the price, made the ultimate sacrifice.
I’ve been bought with a price and the rest of life is free. Hallelujah and Amen!
Listen
up. Do not read Matthew 5-7. It will mess with your mind. There is just no way that Jesus could or
would have said all that is written in those chapters. Matthew must have been writing an April Fool’s
gospel.
On the
other hand, if Jesus really said what Matthew said he said, we “got trouble, my
friends, right here, I say trouble, right here in river city.” When there is trouble, there are a couple of
options. One can take actions to end the
trouble, or one can get rid of the troublemaker. The latter is easier.
Oh, I’m
not ready to get rid of Jesus. I need a
savior. Let’s just do some helpful
editing of Matthew’s Gospel—cut out and burn chapters 5-7. It’s the only sane thing to do.
An old preacher friend always told us that many would have very thin Bibles after they removed the parts they didn't like....however it will not change God's mind! I prefer to keep the pages and work at it until relieved...as I mentioned before we plan on using the Beatitiudes with our campers this summer...looking forward to what God will do in our lives while preparing for that! God Bless you!
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