Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus and his disciples were picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath. The Pharisees cried foul, and Jesus said David went into the house of God and ate when he was hungry on the Sabbath. He basically said they are doing the same here.
I actually like this. I've never been a fan of enforcing rules that don't make sense or sticking to traditions just for the sake of tradition.
A Man with a Withered Hand
On another Sabbath day, Jesus went to a synagogue and there was a man with a withered hand was there. the scribes and Pharisees were there watching to see if he would heal the guy and break Sabbath. Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them if it was bad to do good or harm, save or destroy life. He then healed the guy. The Pharisees were angry.
Same thing here, it's funny to me that they are trying to trick Jesus into healing a guy on the Sabbath and break the rules. Jesus basically says that he is doing a good thing and to leave him be, good stuff.
The Twelve Apostles
Jesus went to a mountain to pray for a while, then he came back and talked to his disciples. He picked 12 of them who were his apostles.
I was wondering a while ago if disciples and apostles meant the same thing. Apparently the apostles are a more inner circle type group or something. There were apparently 12 apostles, I wonder how many disciples there were.
Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude
Jesus came to a level place so he could speak to a great crowd. Many people came to him to be healed and to listen.
Looks like we are at the sermon on the mount again.
The Beatitudes
Jesus gives blessing to the crowd, basically saying their fortunes will turn around. Poor will be rich in the kingdom of God, hungry shall be satisfied, those who weep shall laugh. If you are hated and reviled leap for joy, your reward will be in heaven.
I don't like this last bit, it could lead to a persecution complex.
Jesus Pronounces Woes
He then turn it around and gives woes to people who are in a good situation
Seems strange not to be happy you are full instead of being woeful that later on you will be hungry again
Love Your Enemies
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, if they strike you on the cheek offer the other. If they take your cloak give them your tunic as well. If someone takes your stuff let them keep it.
This all makes sense to a point. I love the whole non-violence thing. But if someone steals from you give them more? Perhaps in some situations this makes sense, but it seems like a terrible general rule. You can't even protect yourself from a thief, you have to give him your stuff.
If you love those who love you what benefit do you get? You should love those who hate you. What benefit is it to lend to those who will pay it back, lend to people and expect nothing in return.
Seems like a strange way to make this point. I think what he is trying to say is if you love people without expectation anything you get back will be good. If you expect a certain amount back, or if you have conditions or ridiculous expectations you could be disappointed. This seems like a good thing to put out there. But to ask what benefit is it to love those who love you, how strange.
Judging Others
Don't judge others or you will also be judged. Don't be a hypocrite.
I like this one.
A Tree and Its Fruit
Good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad. Look for good people and bad people by their actions.
I don't like this because it paints a black and white picture. People are not simply good or bad, people are complicated
Build Your House on the Rock
You should listen to me and follow my advice this is like building a house on a rock. Don't listen to me and doesn't act on it is like the man building his house on sand
I do like the first part and you make a good point here too, some traditions shouldn't be followed only because they are traditions. This is a reference to 1 Samuel 21. http://www.biblestudytools.com/1-samuel/21.html What is interesting is that he was alone.
ReplyDeleteApostles. Here is a comparison of the lists of apostles:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/passage.aspx?q=luke+6:13-16;matthew+10:2-4;mark+3:16-19;acts+1:13 They are pretty similar with an exception. Thaddeus appears only here and in Mark, but in the other two spots, Judas is listed. Either for some odd reason, he goes by two different names, or in the other two he isn't listed (possibly because he was a traitor and replaced?) I have no idea.. This guy http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/ata20040523.htm says that because Simon went by two different names “obviously” Judas must have went by two different names. Why Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention that Simon/Peter went by both names and failed to mention Judas/ Thaddeus is beyond me. This guy's answer is still a little more coherent, but I still feel like it makes some assumptions, including stuff written in apocryphal gospels, which many people say were heretical. While they do answer a lot of unanswered questions, if they were considered as such, then one should question everything they would say in my opinion. http://skepticsannotatedbiblerespons.blogspot.com/2004/10/27-who-were-apostles.html
The beatitudes. Minor difference.. http://www.biblestudytools.com/passage.aspx?q=luke+6:17;matthew+5:1-3 Unless, “mountainside” refers to the plain on the side of the mountain, but then again, this might not make it level. Anyway, I guess this difference is negligible. I do agree about the persecution complex. When I see people like the Westboro Baptist Church protest getting yelled back at, or when I was in college I would see people yelling back and fourth to people preaching I always think about these kinds of verses. When people disagree with you quite strongly, this validates what they do.
I think you also bring up a good point about talking about people who are in a good situation having to deal with woe. If I were trying to justify this by an earthly means is I would think about people who are sometimes up, and sometimes down. Good times don't always last forever, but neither do the bad times. I think I'm twisting the meaning, but that's what would make sense to me. I have a note of some verses that say that wealth is a good thing. http://www.biblestudytools.com/passage.aspx?q=psalm+37:25;psalm+112:1-3;proverbs+13:22;proverbs+15:6 I was going to list these verses for another section as well, but could not locate them, so I didn't include them.
It's interesting that while he tells his followers to love their enemies (which I like the idea) he damns those that don't believe in him. http://www.biblestudytools.com/passage.aspx?q=luke+6:27;mark+16:16 I wonder if this is evidence to answer the Euthyphro (sp?) dilemma. To those that aren't sure what this is, its the question of whether things are God because he says so, or whether they are just good. If it is the former, its arbitrary, if its the later, by what other standard does he use?
There are some good things here, like the Golden rule, (compare to http://www.biblestudytools.com/passage.aspx?q=deuteronomy+13:6-10;2+corinthians+6:14-17 ) which has been better expressed elsewhere long before the bible and better articulated, but its still a good rule. Or being good without expecting anything in return (not counting heaven). For me, the biggest thing was always the “Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not notice the log in your eye?” I think this is a great thing to take away from the bible. We need to look at our own flaws before criticizing others.
From where I stand, I like the idea of building your foundation and knowledge on solid evidence. You shouldn't believe something unless you have a good reason for believing it.
Beatitudes. One last note, in verse 36 he says "be merciful as your father is merciful." There are too many examples in the bible of God being pretty much a jerk to list.
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