Jesus Christ was strongly against racial hatred and sectarianism
A brother of ours wrote this on a facebook group:
~~~
Peace and blessings everyone,
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”.
Jesus Christ adds many are called, but few are chosen. In fact three chapters are dedicated just to the question of hypocrisy. There is the parable of the wicked servant, who loses patience for the return of his Master, then starts to eat and drink with drunkards (symbolizing false doctrines, false teachers, teachings of demons) and starts to beat his fellow servants (symbolizing waging wars and persecution against fellow Christians and Jews) The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him (the day for the return of the Messiah is unknown) and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (thrown into Hell?).
If the New Testament is based on making peace even with your enemies, blessing those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you, then how does that leave room for hate-mongers and bigots? Luke 6:28 Romans 12:14
It goes even further by explicitly saying that if one wanted to get into the Kingdom of Heaven and inherit eternal life, you have to overcome your racial hatred and prejudice. Hashem Elohim has no place in the Kingdom of heaven for those who wish to be adopted as His sons, for those who hate-mongers, bigots or promote violence and division.
Luke 10 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus Christ. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Jesus Christ goes on to provide a parable in which a good Samaritan comes along and helps the victim. Jesus Christ then asks the expert in the law as to who was the neighbor. The expert in the law says that the good Samaritan was the neighbor.
Many Christians only have a shallow understanding of this parable in that it appears to be just a good deed of one person to another, but miss the subtlety of the use of the Samaritan in the parable. In fact I have never heard this parable preached or explained in a Christian church!!! Why, because it is so hard to accept and even harder to obey - which says as much as the state of affairs and morality of those who are supposed to be guiding us! If people had to apply this parable in the world today, all wars will stop.
Basically this parable is a statement against racial hatred and sectarianism. In the 1st century, the Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans hated the Jews! A Jew could not go thru the towns inhabited by the Samarians, and the Samarians could not go thru towns inhabited by Jews without concerns for their safety. The Jews also considered the Samaritans to be mixed-blood, calling them “half-breeds” so there was clear racial prejudice.
They even refused to talk to each other or have any dealings with each other as is demonstrated in John 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).
The religion of the Samaritans is very similar to Judaism. They recognize the Pentateuch (5 Books of Moses) as the written Word of God, yet they reject the other books of the Old Testament. They practice circumcision, and observe the Sabbath and festivals. The most notable difference between the beliefs of the Jews and the Samaritans is concerning the place of the worship of God for the Jews. The Jews believe that in Jerusalem God is to be worshipped, the dwelling place of God on earth is Mount Zion. But for the Samaritans it is the sacred Mount Gerazim, praised with many names (John 4:20).
For Jesus Christ to say 'Love your neighbor as yourself’ and then use the example of the good Samaritan is a radical message and an outright damnation of racial bigotry and sectarianism! It is interesting to note, that the Samaritan, also rejects the prejudices of his own community by helping the Jewish victim.
Note also, that Jesus Christ, although preaching against sectarianism, the sectarianism DOES NOT include accommodating those communities who worship foreign gods or idolatry. Jesus Christ DID NOT use a Canaanite or pagan Roman soldier as an example, who also inhabited the area.
The apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthians for having a sectarian spirit: “Each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13). Later in the epistle he added, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one” (3:4-5).
Deliberately causing schisms in the body of Christ is a demonic sin—so much so that divisive people are not to be tolerated in the church.
In this parable of the Good Samaritan, the Jews could be seen in place of the Samaritan in that Jews only accepted the Tanakh, but reject the New Testament and the Christians can be seen in place of the Jews. The backdrop of the bitter Catholic vs Protestant conflict of the early centuries should also be taken into context in this parable as a violation of the Will of G-d. Those European nations that instigated wars against other nations in the cause of the wild greedy beasts of nationalism and colonialism are also doomed on Judgement Day. In fact I would caution everybody to be wary of the “-isms”.
Does Jesus Christ’s parable imply that one can go and persecute those of different ethnic groups who are all the servants of G-d? Does Jesus Christ parable imply that because one sect worships G-d differently, with different traditions or interpretations on how one worships G-d, you can go around persecuting that sect as “heretics”? Certainly not - in fact he says that if you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and inherit eternal life, you had better start treating the your brothers and sisters who are servants of G-d of various ethnic groups and other nations with love, compassion and respect!
In a brilliant twist in this parable, the parable also teaches that the victim of racial or sectarian persecution, like the good Samaritan, who can forgive, overcome all the bitterness of persecution, and still offer mercy, compassion and kindness to someone from the community who persecuted him is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven, and will be rewarded with eternal life!
(p.s. there is no copyright on this - I am placing it in public domain - give it to whoever you like, copy it paste, forward it to your friends etc.)
~~~
A brother of ours wrote this on a facebook group:
~~~
Peace and blessings everyone,
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”.
Jesus Christ adds many are called, but few are chosen. In fact three chapters are dedicated just to the question of hypocrisy. There is the parable of the wicked servant, who loses patience for the return of his Master, then starts to eat and drink with drunkards (symbolizing false doctrines, false teachers, teachings of demons) and starts to beat his fellow servants (symbolizing waging wars and persecution against fellow Christians and Jews) The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him (the day for the return of the Messiah is unknown) and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (thrown into Hell?).
If the New Testament is based on making peace even with your enemies, blessing those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you, then how does that leave room for hate-mongers and bigots? Luke 6:28 Romans 12:14
It goes even further by explicitly saying that if one wanted to get into the Kingdom of Heaven and inherit eternal life, you have to overcome your racial hatred and prejudice. Hashem Elohim has no place in the Kingdom of heaven for those who wish to be adopted as His sons, for those who hate-mongers, bigots or promote violence and division.
Luke 10 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus Christ. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Jesus Christ goes on to provide a parable in which a good Samaritan comes along and helps the victim. Jesus Christ then asks the expert in the law as to who was the neighbor. The expert in the law says that the good Samaritan was the neighbor.
Many Christians only have a shallow understanding of this parable in that it appears to be just a good deed of one person to another, but miss the subtlety of the use of the Samaritan in the parable. In fact I have never heard this parable preached or explained in a Christian church!!! Why, because it is so hard to accept and even harder to obey - which says as much as the state of affairs and morality of those who are supposed to be guiding us! If people had to apply this parable in the world today, all wars will stop.
Basically this parable is a statement against racial hatred and sectarianism. In the 1st century, the Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans hated the Jews! A Jew could not go thru the towns inhabited by the Samarians, and the Samarians could not go thru towns inhabited by Jews without concerns for their safety. The Jews also considered the Samaritans to be mixed-blood, calling them “half-breeds” so there was clear racial prejudice.
They even refused to talk to each other or have any dealings with each other as is demonstrated in John 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).
The religion of the Samaritans is very similar to Judaism. They recognize the Pentateuch (5 Books of Moses) as the written Word of God, yet they reject the other books of the Old Testament. They practice circumcision, and observe the Sabbath and festivals. The most notable difference between the beliefs of the Jews and the Samaritans is concerning the place of the worship of God for the Jews. The Jews believe that in Jerusalem God is to be worshipped, the dwelling place of God on earth is Mount Zion. But for the Samaritans it is the sacred Mount Gerazim, praised with many names (John 4:20).
For Jesus Christ to say 'Love your neighbor as yourself’ and then use the example of the good Samaritan is a radical message and an outright damnation of racial bigotry and sectarianism! It is interesting to note, that the Samaritan, also rejects the prejudices of his own community by helping the Jewish victim.
Note also, that Jesus Christ, although preaching against sectarianism, the sectarianism DOES NOT include accommodating those communities who worship foreign gods or idolatry. Jesus Christ DID NOT use a Canaanite or pagan Roman soldier as an example, who also inhabited the area.
The apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthians for having a sectarian spirit: “Each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13). Later in the epistle he added, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one” (3:4-5).
Deliberately causing schisms in the body of Christ is a demonic sin—so much so that divisive people are not to be tolerated in the church.
In this parable of the Good Samaritan, the Jews could be seen in place of the Samaritan in that Jews only accepted the Tanakh, but reject the New Testament and the Christians can be seen in place of the Jews. The backdrop of the bitter Catholic vs Protestant conflict of the early centuries should also be taken into context in this parable as a violation of the Will of G-d. Those European nations that instigated wars against other nations in the cause of the wild greedy beasts of nationalism and colonialism are also doomed on Judgement Day. In fact I would caution everybody to be wary of the “-isms”.
Does Jesus Christ’s parable imply that one can go and persecute those of different ethnic groups who are all the servants of G-d? Does Jesus Christ parable imply that because one sect worships G-d differently, with different traditions or interpretations on how one worships G-d, you can go around persecuting that sect as “heretics”? Certainly not - in fact he says that if you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and inherit eternal life, you had better start treating the your brothers and sisters who are servants of G-d of various ethnic groups and other nations with love, compassion and respect!
In a brilliant twist in this parable, the parable also teaches that the victim of racial or sectarian persecution, like the good Samaritan, who can forgive, overcome all the bitterness of persecution, and still offer mercy, compassion and kindness to someone from the community who persecuted him is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven, and will be rewarded with eternal life!
(p.s. there is no copyright on this - I am placing it in public domain - give it to whoever you like, copy it paste, forward it to your friends etc.)
~~~
