Geting All Tough

“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. 43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”9:42

What shocked me a lot about what I read was that, it wasn’t all healing and being kind. Jesus got this tough guy attitude all through books 9-15. He even got a bit graphic about the punishment of those that are bad and deserved to go to hell. Sure all these people deserve their punishment for being evil and having been sinful but, it was still surprising to read Jesus’ words. I thought everything was forgiven completely and you had a clean slate but apparently you lose something if you are going to heaven. Like “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire”. So you have to leave one eye in hell. It’s Kind of sad if you think about it. One eye saw something less holly than the other. I understand that to become completely clean you have to obey the Ten Commandments and pray but I had never really hurt about leaving body parts in hell.

Can you imagine getting to your house and finding out that someone who had keys let a bunch of nasty people in to have a party? You get home and your house is complete destroyed, even though you thought you had left it in good hands. To Jesus his house is the temple because it’s the only focus point of connection to God, his father. So I completely get his pissed of reaction when he got to the temple and found that it wasn’t treated correctly. According to him “My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves”.11:15. He just marched in there and took back what truly belonged to him. I don’t think it was irrational at all that he marched into the temple and scared a bunch of people away because he is right about the temple being made into a joke. They lost all the values that David and the other prophets had given them. By Jesus doing this, it opened their eyes.

Jesus and Confucius have the same attitude. They treat their disciples the same way and their lesson, the way in which they are said kind of feel the same. By just saying the simplest thing they both shock those that surround them. A quote in particular that I thought could have been something Confucius would say was: “Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it.And he saith unto them, Whose isthis image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him”.(12:15:16:17). Their reasoning’s are similar and both are all about being kind and respect. Confucius didn’t have a God but the way in which he shared his ideas with his disciples like they still had to be open to the world somehow, sounds like Jesus. They both were teachers in a way because both wanted to share their teachings through lessons. Every time Jesus is going to guide the sheep they say he is teaching.

Stalking is totally ok if you are the son of God. Just by looking at someone buying eggs in the morning you can come up with a totally new lesson for your pupils. Just by looking at a widow deposit money, Jesus said a wise thing:”Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, evenall her living”.(12:43:44) How can he tell all this by just looking at rich men and a widow deposit money? I guess he got vibes off of people.

Jesus knew the future and didn’t try and change it. He knew everything that was going to happen to him and to his followers. I know that if I knew some part of my future I would be freaked out if it wasn’t positive. It’s just sad to think that all through his life Jesus knew that what whould happen to him would be unavoidable. But the worst part is that he knew what would happen after he left: “Take heed lest any man deceive you: 6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;and shall deceive many. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such thingsmust needs be; but the end shallnot beyet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these arethe beginnings of sorrows”.(13:6:7:8) If I knew these things would happen when I was gone, I’d feel way more powerless. I would be there in spirit but I wouldn’t be able to give any kind of guidance when it happened. What I am trying to say is that, Jesus had true courage to accept everything so willingly and bravely.