“When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.” (John 6.15) I would like to begin with this line, for I’m not sure what to believe. Should I take this as an example of God’s humbleness and simplicity, or rather a cowardly act? All along I have been trying to ignore the fact that I’m a Christian in order to have a less biased point of view and focus more on understanding these texts. However, I must accept that reading the New Testament has provided me with more concepts to feed my faith. And like I have said before, besides the fact that the reading of these excerpts is perhaps completely academic, I try to get a little more out of it, explore it more deeply. I guess this is why I enjoy reading it overall.
“My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” (John 7.16) Once again, Jesus portrays himself as a messenger, a kind of real connection between God and humans. His fairness and equality and more than evident throughout the texts as he performs miracles and cares for the underprivileged. Moving on, chapter 8 presented a particular situation that I had never heard of before. It calls my attention due the amazing message it leaves behind. It talks about a woman caught in adultery, and how the tradition stated, she should be stoned. However, Jesus interferes. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8.7) “ And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” (John 8.9)Jesus proves once again how forgiving he is, how loyal, and how understanding. It leaves a strong message behind, like I said, because we usually tend to judge others for their actions, unaware at our own flaws. It is easier to see the bad things in others, and some might even enjoy thinking or watching what the consequences are, but how many times do we do that to ourselves? How many times do we sit and look back at our mistakes? If we do so, for one reason or another, we will tend to minimize their real degree.
Last point I’d like to make is one that appears in chapter 10. All along we have seen that Jesus’ teaching are heard and often obeyed. Nevertheless, we are now aware that not everyone was in agreement with what he had to say, “ There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? 21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10.20-21) I found it awarding that God knows about our flaws, he knows that we are unfair, but stills has the courage to show us the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment