Back to the "Simple Teachings of Jesus"?

But first, let us beware of a very enticing snare which goes:
Let's forget all this theology business. Let's get back to the simple teachings of Jesus. They give us all the direction we need, and we can forget about sin and salvation and all that.

This may sound fine on the surface, but on a number of counts it is open to serious question. 1. Jesus' significance does not lie primarily in his teachings. Actually they can be paralleled in Jewish rabbinic writings or in Oriental religious teachings long before Jesus' time. To be sure, no one person said all the things Jesus said, or had such a consistently high ethic, but for Christian faith the real significance of Jesus lies, not so much in what he says, but in who he is.
2. When we begin to examine them, we discover that these "simple teachings" are not so "simple" after all. There is nothing very "simple" about the statement, "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" ( Matt. 5: 48). The "simple truths" of the Beatitudes turn out to be rather complex: "Blessed are the pure in heart. . . . Blessed are those who are persecuted. . . ." It is not a simple matter to be pure in heart or to endure persecution.
3. Many of the "simple teachings," rather than offering us encouragement, offend us. Rather than making us comfortable, they disturb us. Jesus often casts grave doubts upon our whole manner of living. Think for one minute of some of the things he says.

To the religious leaders of his day: "The tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you" ( Matt. 21: 31).

To those closest to him: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" ( Matt. 18: 3).

To the "good" people who think they are "very religious": "You also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" ( Matt. 23: 28).

To the people who think that evil is just the result of social conditioning: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander" ( Matt. 15: 19).

These are not cheery comments; they are jarring denunciations -- a series of "lefts" to the spiritual jaw.

4. Finally, to speak of Jesus' teachings as though they could be separated from "theology" or "belief in God" is a betrayal of the very teachings themselves. For Jesus' ethics are throughand-through religious ethics. If you do not believe in the God of whom Jesus speaks, there is little point to taking his teachings seriously. He tells you to love your enemies, for example, not because this will "work," or convert your enemies, but because it is God's will that you do so. You are to forgive, not because this is expedient or clever, but because God forgives you, and you are to mirror the divine compassion in your own life. So it goes. When the disciples report that they have subdued demons (and think they are pretty splendid as a result), Jesus rebukes them: "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" ( Luke 10: 20). In other words, it is more important to do God's will than to be proud of what you have "accomplished."

These comments make it clear that we cannot talk about Jesus' teachings except in terms of his total mission on earth.

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