students of jesus

"Why would Jesus teach the impossible?" --- To bring us to our knees at the foot of the cross. What He has done for us far surpasses anything that can be done in us while we are in our earthly tents.

Thank you Ray!!!

You are truly His child and on the path to grow beyond mortality. Through you I have been blessed and with the help of my divine constant Counselor and perfect Nanny I pray this inspires you.

God has taken me safely through spiritual and intellectual valleys of death. The only reason I did not fear evil is because I was too immature and even more ignorant than I am today. As I have become slightly more understanding I have simultaneously been prepared through His children like you, Ed, many responders on this blog and yes like myself who I love like you.

Throw out all concepts of Heaven and Hell for they have become bullying tools for those who would usurp our Father's (devine Parent) loving nurture and authority. The full concept of truth and relationships in love can only be found with the resource of enough time, an eternity of time.

I am a child of a very real Heavenly Father who has been blessed to be a mortal father and a grandfather on Earth. My children are perfect because each of them still accepts my nurture and authority. They can still do so because I honestly presented myself as a child of God in progress of growing up who loves them dearly. My Father in Heaven loves us all dearly for our oldest Brother showed us in every earthly way possible this is so. We are perfect especially when we stumble, fall and accept His help up on our chosen journey as His children toward the Truth and the Love He offers us throughout.

We are not mentally, physically and spiritually perfect and neither was Jesus on Earth. Jesus bruised, calloused, bled and died just like we do daily. Jesus served from the lowest of earthly positions just like we do and took no pride in lording over all just like we must. Jesus was perfect like His Father in Heaven because He remained of one mind and one heart trusting in the Father's ability to love and be the only true authority for life.

I could go on and on but I am being told this is enough for today for there will be sufficient tomorrows. All we have to do is summed up in Luke 10:25-37 and each of us can perfectly or our Father would not have asked it of each of us.

I wonder if American impatience and immediacy makes it hard to hear the Sermon on the Mount. Given time and willingness, God can shape us according to the Sermon on the Mount. It won't happen overnight. It's about slow growth, and that is something a culture of consumption isn't suited to grasp.

Ed: Surely our North American culture contributes to the disconnect. But you are exactly right: there's hope!

Herm: Thanks for stopping by. I want to be clear: In my view Jesus was, indeed, perfect on earth. His sinless perfect life is both our example and our salvation. Where we do agree is on the importance of relationship.

Hi Ron: Thanks for stopping by: you are always welcome. While I agree with your words, "What He has done for us far surpasses anything that can be done in us while we are in our earthly tents," I have trouble thinking that Jesus doesn't expect us to obey him or follow his example. I'm grateful for his sacrifice and cleansing, because I fall short, but surely he didn't lay out his teaching only to prove our failures? Peace to you!

Thank you Ray for valuing relationship. I would ask you or anyone else what is their definition of perfect, especially in God's heart and eyes? Is it doing absolutely everything right with never a mistake or something more to learn? Why wasn't Jesus noted by His community for the first 30 years of His human life as being the first perfect child? Why is it that His hometown didn't believe He could possibly be the Messiah?

You, in my humble judgment, are an example of God's perfect human child. Your example is one who is willingly offering all your heart, soul, mind and strength in the love of the Lord your God ... and to dialog with me you clearly pass the test of loving the neighbor who would show you mercy as you would love yourself. The test of your perfection is that of a child which is how you come to your Father in Heaven.

The trap we children fall into is listening to peers telling us what's on the test rather than trusting the Teacher to sufficiently tutor us. My children are equally perfect to me because they each do differently to the maximum level they are capable. Do I recognize they each have much to learn before they perfect their life? Absolutely, but they do not separate themselves from the love and truth offered by their father, much less their heavenly Father.

You and I have a potential eternity to get all things right and Ed was right on in accepting the need for time. I believe Jesus most likely loved perfectly all His human life though such is not documented. That I cannot say for myself but I have never loved my merciful neighbor less than myself. I can honestly say that though it might not appear that way to my judgmental peers I have always loved God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength ... well, all that I knew how to at the time.

Let's get something dear to my heart on the table. It does not matter to me whether the soldiers who died for what they thought was right were perfect. I survive because of them to learn another day on Earth. God died that I might live and since I'm incapable of determining perfection I cannot, nor anyone other than God I know, judge His degree of perfection. He died for me and that I know. He knows more today than I probably ever will, He is more trustworthy than I probably ever will be and He still loves me more than I probably ever will be able to love.

I have passed the theology classes according to man. The Teacher of Whom we claim to meet together here tells us there is an eternity of learning beyond this life. Our Teacher is learning from us His disciples as do all teachers of good faith. What value would be supporting relationships of any form that we can't all learn and grow from?

If sin is defined as relating and valuing one another then I believe Jesus was sinless both to us and to God. Jesus was potentially perfectly sinless which I can never claim except that He has finally paid the price for my sin. I must say, again, Jesus was not perfect on Earth for He too struggled to learn to be a man as do each of us. He can be perfectly sinless and still not be perfect mentally, physically and spiritually. If He were why all the anguish in the garden? Did He know knowing nothing before He was crucified?

The theology test we must pass or we will forever onward know nothing is fully summed up in Luke 10:25-37. Let's not impose more qualifying burdens on our sisters and brothers than the light yoke of Jesus. Let's support all of God's children to desire the fun of relationship with God: today and throughout eternity.

Ray, nice article! I like it when you said, "It’s been called the constitution of the Kingdom of God." I would not have read it without the prodding from you on twitter.

As for your question, is this what you are looking for: "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt5:20). He is trying to make us throw the javelin the farthermost so that we can exceed that of the Pharisees.

Hi Caleb: I'm glad you responded to the prodding :-) I also like your metaphor of throwing the javelin: as our Lord encourages us to develop on the inside, it should impact our lives on the outside, yes?