Jesus and Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus was a rich tax collected who wanted to get Jesus' attention and had to climb a tree because he was short. Jesus saw him and other people were upset because he is a sinner. Zacchaeus showed Jesus that he gave half of his wealth to the poor, he also repays anyone fourfold if he defrauds them (presumably on accident). Jesus said salvation has come to him.
Wait, so Jesus said that this guy is good, but he only gives half of his wealth to the poor and not all of it. Doesn't that still go against the whole "give away all your money" thing from yesterday?
The Parable of the Ten Minas
A rich guy gave some servants money while he was away and told them to do business with it. One guy made a 10 fold profit and was praised, as was the guy who made 5 fold. But one guy was scared of losing the money so just held onto it and gave it back when the rich guy got back. He was upset he didn't make any profit. He took the money from him and gave it to the guy who had made the most profit. There was complaining that he took money from the poor and gave it to the rich, and he said that is the way it goes.
Again, seems like a turn from the give away all your money from yesterday, now it is "make wise investments and you will be rewarded" or something.
The Triumphal Entry
Jesus gets a colt that no one has ever ridden on before and rides it into Jerusalem.
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
Jesus foretells of the destruction of Jerusalem.
Am I reading that right?
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Jesus drove people out of the temple who were there to sell stuff, then he did teaching from the temple.
don't use your church for profit, sounds good to me.
The fact that Zacchaeus only needed to give half his money to the poor just shows that he is a savvy negotiator.
ReplyDeletehaha
ReplyDeleteI suppose the lesson then is that the higher the stakes the more important it is to do a little negotiating.
It is funny how many contradictions one finds when they read the bible is it not?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is interesting. One of the things I have been trying to do (with varying success) is to give the bible the benefit of the doubt as much as I can. There are certain times when I see a contradiction but I also see a reasonable way out of it, or I can see that in context there is a valid explanation of it. But there are others where it is just blatant. One place or another in the bible just has to be wrong.
ReplyDeleteLoL @ the comment about on the negotiator part =P
ReplyDeleteThe Parable of the Ten Minas. So to paraphrase this parable God is like some douche bag king who takes what isn't his (“to receive a kingdom for himself,”) has slaves, rules over people who don't want to be ruled by him, “reaps what he doesn't sow,” and then in verse 27 says that he slaughters the people who don't want him to rule over them. Am I missing something here, or is this really, really awful?
The Triumphal Entry. Wont really get into the contradictions again over what animals Jesus rode in on as in the other chapters, but he basically steals a horse.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple. I do like the “moral” of this story about not using the church for profit. I think many televangelists should take note of this story. I also remember reading somewhere that the money changers provided a vital service for people who came from far away with their different currencies. I can't really remember where I read that and can't source that, so don't quote me on that.
Oh wow, I think I just read past verse 27. Are the "enemies of mine" supposed to be the people who were poor investors or the people in the kingdom he received who didn't want him as a ruler? Either way, WTF is up with "slaughter them before me"? It's nuts!
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the money changers were providing a service is an interesting one. If true, I could imagine it started that way and then grew to something unholy (for lack of a better term) which needed to be removed.