Part 9 (1/2)
Jesus practically admitted that he had made a mistake in speaking unkindly to a Gentile. Her clever answer induced him to change his decision. A physician who called a stranger's child a dog would now be considered brutal even in a free hospital.
”And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”[24]
Jesus could have allowed the man to attend his father's funeral and follow him later. Would not that have set a better precedent?
When Peter intervened to protect Jesus, the latter ”turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me.”[25]
Even though Jesus was determined to go on with the sacrifice, he could have been more appreciative of his best friend's suggestion.
_Unethical Advice_
When the unjust steward cheated his employer, Jesus gave the following remarkable advice:
”And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”[26]
This pa.s.sage should be read again before deciding whether Jesus advised opportunism rather than morality. The words must be taken as they are; no interpretation can be based upon the a.s.sumption that Jesus was always right and therefore meant something different from what he said.
_Sermon on the Mount_
Many Christians say that they care nothing for theology; that the Sermon on the Mount contains all that is necessary for a religious life, being a perfect system of ethics.
The Sermon on the Mount does contain many admirable principles, but also some that are inferior to present standards. Few of the people who praise this Sermon would think it proper to abide by all the teachings therein. Christian parents do not wish their children to follow either the letter or the spirit of this famous preachment. It begins in the fifth chapter of Matthew.
”Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Is it better to be poor in spirit than rich and eager in spirit? Being poor in spirit is to be faint of heart.
This is bad advice, is it not?
”Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This means that those who mourn on earth will be comforted in heaven; but now that life on earth has a.s.sumed greater importance, so far as our daily conduct is concerned, than life in heaven, the philosophy of gloom is unfortunate. Jesus preached acceptance of unhappiness as the common lot of man; he should not therefore be credited with providing happiness on earth. His urge to rejoice was usually in antic.i.p.ation of good things to come in the next world. He preached sorrow for all here rather than the greater happiness for the greater number.
”There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake ... and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”[27]
”Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.”[28]
The beat.i.tude, ”Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth”
is of doubtful accuracy or value.
The commands to pluck out an eye or cut off a hand may not have been intended literally, although it does appear as if Jesus referred to the physical body, and men have often so interpreted these doubtful instructions.
Jesus said that ”Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery”, which is no longer true. Those who permit remarriage after divorce should admit an error on Jesus' part.
”But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil.” This instruction should be reversed, should it not? Evil should be resisted in every possible way that does not involve evil in itself. What modern ethical teacher will say that evil should not be resisted, or that this advice of Jesus was perfection? If his instruction was intended to refer to physical resistance, then no righteous person should fight in any war, no police should be delegated to arrest criminals. If the phrase has merely a spiritual meaning, it is certainly unsound advice, for evil should be overcome by good.
A fanatical att.i.tude towards the law was recommended when Jesus said: ”If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.” Extreme generosity and non-resistance are taught, but the ill.u.s.tration was not well thought out, for if the man had already won his suit and taken the coat, it is evident that the owner of the coat had put up a legal fight instead of giving away his coat and cloak as Jesus implies he should. Yielding more than a legal opponent wins in court is not compatible with defending the suit, nor is it a principle that would meet the approval of most of Jesus' followers today.
”Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” If Jesus referred to Jehovah as his Father in heaven, the standard of perfection advocated was very low, for Jehovah was, as Thomas Jefferson put it, ”cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust.”
The Lord's Prayer is not the simple, clear, devotional pet.i.tion that is usually supposed. Take it literally, as was undoubtedly intended, and its irrelevance to actual life is at once apparent.
”Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.