Jesus Course

A great deal of Jesus’ teaching is recorded for us in the form of parables (essentially stories that teach). But why did Jesus teach this way when it leaves so much confusion over what he meant. There is even a story in the bible that shows his disciples were struggling to understand his teaching, if they struggle how will we ever know what he was on about?

We get a clue to why he did this in Matthew gospel chapter 13 verses 10-15.

Jesus says in effect: he only wanted the right people to understand. Those people are the ones who are ready to listen to Jesus and have not closed their minds to what he has to teach.

This can be both confusing and a little alarming to those of us who read this today but there are very good reasons for why Jesus would want to do this.

You probably already know that Jesus was not popular with the religious authorities – in fact they were quite often planning to catch him out and kill him. It could be that Jesus didn’t want to talk too plainly so that he could get away with his teaching (you can’t kill someone for telling a story).

I think this could be partly true but I think it goes deeper than that. I think Jesus only wants those who are willing to be open to what he has to say to understand him. We see in other places in the gospels that Jesus had a clear idea of who should be hearing his message. Jesus just did not waste time on those who would not listen.

I think there is a lesson for Christians today. Christians are notorious for spending all of their time on those who are least likely to be interested. We will give hours and hours over to trying to convince the skeptic about Jesus and take no notice of the people who are actually interested – the reverse of what Jesus did. Jesus didn’t waist time on those who were closed minded to his message but instead gave all his energy over to speaking with those who were interested and open to his ideas.

Of course the challenge for Christians is also to understand if they themselves are open or closed to what Jesus was trying to say.

Jesus Jesus, parables, Teaching

Is it right that Jesus should be judged on the goodness of his followers? On the one hand we find out how useful the things that Jesus said are by those who try to live by them, but on the other hand the people trying to live by them are just people and people are not perfect.

I get really sad when I hear about someone who is a Christian but they do something very un-Christian. No Christian can deny that Christians do and have done some pretty bad things. Whilst it is true that not all of the things that were done by Christians were done in the name of Jesus there are some things that Christians just can’t wriggle away from. Some bad things have been done by people who happened to be Christians but an awful lot of stuff has been done by Christians because they (mistakenly) thought they were Christian things to do.

Just look at the way the Jewish people were treated by Christians in the middle ages. This kind of treatment was appalling and made even worse because many of the people who were doing them thought they were doing them for Jesus Christ.

We find a similar thing during the crusades. Much of what took place during the crusades was typical medieval war-making (Christians did the same thing to Christians), and some was just propaganda encouraged to scare the Muslims (it must have worked well because it still has an effect today). However some of the terrible things that were done were perpetrated in the name of Jesus Christ.

Even today we find Christians are still capable of abusing their position and power.

There can never be an excuse for any of this and as a Christian some of it makes me ashamed that such things could ever be done in the name of my faith. I can understand why some are repulsed by Christianity when they consider what Christians have sometimes done.

But I can do nothing to change the past. Those who acted did so for reasons that seemed good to them but now we see that what they did was wrong – no matter what the provocation.

So does all this badness mean that Christianity is wrong? I don’t think so for several reasons. There isn’t room in a blog to cover them all in detail but here are some of them:

1. It’s the teaching of Jesus that shows us that Christians have sometimes done terrible things. Because someone who follows the teaching of Jesus does something wrong doesn’t mean that the teaching is bad. We know that what Christians have sometimes done is wrong because of the teaching of Jesus Christ. It is the very teaching of Christ that shows how wrong the actions were. This means that it is because Christians have failed to follow that bad things have happened and not because of the teaching itself.
2. People with no faith have done things which are just as bad – if not worse. The last century has been described by some historians as the century of dictators. These dictators were often people of no faith at all and yet were capable of terrible humanitarian crimes. If the problems were with the teachings of the faiths (and in particular Christianity) then we would expect people of no faith to be different, but we discover that they were not and in many cases they were worse.  This does not excuse the behaviour of some Christians but it does at least show that it is not religion that is the problem.
3. Christians have made a big impact for good on the world. A great deal of humanitarian work finds it roots in the Christian faith. Other faiths make similar contributions but we are concerned with Christians here so that’s what I’m going to concentrate on. Hospitals, learning, science, etc all have strong connections with Christians. Many of the great world changing people of history have been inspired by their Christian faith. The abolition of slavery worldwide was inspired by the Christian faith. Sometimes Christians take a while to realise that the teachings of Christ say something very important in a situation but when they do realise it they are inspired to make a difference for good. Much of the work undertaken to help children and young people has its roots in Christian movements (Scouts, YMCA, MAYC, Guides, Boys Brigade, YWCA, etc – to name but a few). When South Africa finally threw off the evil of apartheid the world waited for terrible vengence to be taken on the white people but none came. The reason given for the overwhelming feelings of forgiveness was due to the Christian faith of that nation.

I’m going to have to stop here otherwise this will turn into a book rather than a blog post.

As a Christian I am very sorry for the bad things that others have done in the name of my faith. I say – like many other Christians have said – that I am sorry and ask for your forgiveness.

Christians are people and like other people they sometimes get things wrong and others suffer. This is not a good thing. However because Christians sometimes get things wrong doesn’t mean that the teachings of Jesus and therefore the teachings of Christianity are wrong. Don’t let the stupid behaviour of a few blind you to the wonders that are available to those who follow Jesus Christ.

Thoughts jesus christ, suffering

It becomes obvious from reading the gospels that Jesus had a clear idea about what he was trying to do. Like lots of stories, however, we only really get the full picture when the vision has been fulfilled.

It seems strange then that so many people should think that having a vision is a bit pointless and only for the weak minded. If you look at any of the great people from history you will discover how they became focussed on one particular goal. For Jesus everything points to the cross as being the ultimate aim of his vision but like all good visions he also saw beyond this event to what would come after.

Why not take some time to think about your own vision? What is your life about? What are you trying to achieve?

Of course Jesus can help with some big answers to some of these questions but ultimately there is a part of life that will be particular to you. I don’t mean this in a selfish way because usually the bit of life that is just about us is actually about how we can help others.

Thoughts Jesus, vision

One of the strange things about Christians is that they are often accused of being narrow thinkers, and yet Jesus was often accused of the exact opposite.

When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees or Sadducees he wanted them to think beyond just abiding by the letter of the law and to see the spirit that lie behind the law. He wanted his followers to be open minded. Now this doesn’t mean that Jesus wanted his followers to disregard everything that had gone before but that they needed to see the world in a much wider way than just the following of a set of rules. He didn’t say that the rules were wrong but what he did say was that slavishly following the rules might make us wrong.

He gave an example of a really good person and a bad person praying. The good person told God about how good he had been at following the rules the bad person admitted that he had broken the rules and asked for forgiveness. Jesus said it was the bad person that went home right with God not the good one.

The point being that we need to see beyond the obvious rules to what those rules mean. Everyone breaks some of the rules and so we have to admit that before God to be right with him.

I’ve been accused on more than one occasion of being narrow minded because I believe in Jesus Christ. It seems that people assume if you have faith it must be because you are narrow minded, and then they further assume that those who have no faith are open minded. I think they are wrong. Being open minded is being willing to listen to the big arguements and then draw a conclusion being narrow minded is refusing to deal with the big issues and the evidence.

So don’t assume someone who has come to a conclusion is narrow minded or that someone who thinks in a different way to you is narrow minded, but just make sure you have thought through the issues honestly.

Jesus wants us to think differently than others not just to slavishly follow everyone else.

Thoughts evidence, jesus christ, open minded

Perhaps one of our greatest resources is time. Without time we are rendered hopeless but with it we can move mountains (quite literally).

Jesus once talked about the importance of having our hearts in the right place. We could also add that you can tell where the right place is in the way people spend their time.

If you want to work out what things you really do value then look at the way you spend your time.

You might want to come back at me and say that your time is not yours to spend but then I want to ask whose time is it if not your own. If you think you are not spending your time on the things you value then perhaps its time to get your time planning systems out of the box and start working to make sure you do spend time on the things that are important to you.

Knowing what you value can be important for all kinds of reasons. Jesus said that we should make God our top priority but I wonder how many of us actually do.

Thoughts Jesus, time, values

People sometimes get annoyed with Christians because they only ever seem to think about what will happen when we die. So does it matter that we will die?

I think it does. I think it is important for everyone to consider what is going to happen to them when this life is over. I’m suggesting that we should think about whether there is anything after this life. Prominent Atheists want us to believe that there is nothing, that once this life is over then there is no more. Perhaps you feel this way yourself. However I don’t think that way myself. I believe that there is something more when this life is over – not because I can’t face the reality of mortality but because it makes more sense to me.

When I’m faced with questions about death I come back to thinking about Jesus. Because I believe that Jesus is divine it means that I have to believe that what Jesus said about the afterlife is true. If I question the existence of life after death I come back to the teachings and life of Jesus who wanted to make it very clear that there was. Once I’ve accepted the authority of Jesus to talk about such things I have to listen to what he says very carefully.

Of course if I believe there is an afterlife then I want to know what it is going to be like. Again to answer this I have to go to Jesus.

Jesus had a lot to say about life now and life after death. He spoke about judgement (I don’t like the subject but I have to deal with it) but more importantly he spoke about how wonderful heaven is. Jesus wanted us to know that heaven is a wonderful place to be and he was very keen to let us know how to get there.

Other religions talk about the afterlife but none of them are able to speak with the authority of one who has been there. Only Jesus has this unique ability to talk about heaven.

So don’t shy away from thinking about death but instead look for understanding and peace.

Thoughts death, jesus christ

Jesus demonstrated time and again that he had the power to work miracles – at least those who saw him face to face believed that he did. Yet despite this obvious power Jesus seems to have needed to take time for prayer.

It’s one of those strange questions that often comes up about Jesus. If Jesus is the second person of the trinity (e.g. God himself) why did he feel that he needed to pray? Jesus seemed to have great power at his disposal and yet time and again there are references in the gospels to Jesus going off to pray. I’m sure that this question was just as aparent to the gospel writers as it is to us today and yet they don’t gloss over this simple fact. They claim that Jesus was God (you have to do some serious bending of the gospels to conclude otherwise) and yet they tell us that Jesus went off to pray.

The truth is that although we have lots of references to Jesus praying we have very little of his prayers actually recorded and when we do we notice something quite revealing. In John’s gospel we read about Jesus praying for his friend Lazarus. During this prayer Jesus makes it quite clear that he does it for the benefit of those watching and not because he needs to.

Then again the longest of the prayers of Jesus is in John’s gospel when he prays for the disciples. There are also prayers recorded in the garden of Gethsemane. In both of these prayers Jesus is talking – quite intimately – with his father. Among other things these prayers point towards the Christian belief in the Trinity (how can God pray to God?).

Then the disciples ask for help in learning how to pray and Jesus gives them what has become known as the Lord’s prayer. This is a framework for us to pray from and not really an example of how Jesus himself prayed.

The truth is that most of the time Jesus didn’t make his prayers public. However we do know that he spent whole nights in prayer and on one occasion spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness praying.

If Jesus sees prayer as such an important part of his own life – why should we think we can get away with anything less? I’m not suggesting that all night prayer vigils are the thing for everyone but I am suggesting that we should all pray as much as we can.

How often do you pray?

Thoughts jesus christ, prayer

One of the things that people notice about Jesus is how he cares about people. He wants to put people and their relationship with God above systems and organisations. When the religious leaders of the day try to stop people doing things just because it is wrong Jesus steps in and tells them off.

Some have mistaken this to mean that Jesus thought that you could ignore God’s laws if those laws were upsetting you. Jesus never says this and in fact is quite strict in how he interprets the law.

What Jesus didn’t like was ‘religiosity’. When people compain about organised religion they often mean that side of religion that seems to make people feel bad just to suit the religious leaders. Jesus hated this. He had no time for any religious leader who was using people’s faith as an excuse to gain a little more power.

Jesus described people as ‘sheep without a shepherd’ meaning that people need some guidance but sadly all they get are these impotent religious leaders. Jesus saw himself as the good shepherd, by the way.

So Jesus didn’t say ignore the law but he did say that he wanted religious leaders who helped people. Sadly even the followers of Jesus at times have made too much of the authority of the church and not enough of the compassion of Jesus.

Uncategorized compassion, jesus christ, religion