#Jesus: A Teacher, Unlike Any Other #JesusFollowers

              

Jesus stands as a unique figure in world religions. To follow Jesus' teachings is to accept a challenge that is unlike any other religious teacher, because he is unlike any other teacher. 

No other teacher has called us to live lives of radical love - a love that dares equate what we give to our neighbors, to strangers, and even to our enemies, to what we give our SELVES. (Mark 12:31)

No other teacher has called us to live lives of radical service - a service that leads us to think of Others first, to deny our own needs, to care for all who are suffering and in need, and to always do more than is required. (Mark 8:34; 9:35; 10:43-45)

And no other teacher has called us to live lives of radical obedience - serving God completely, repenting of our past sins, seeking Heavenly, rather than Earthly treasure, and striving to live in complete and perfect obedience to God's will. (Matt 4:17; 6:19-20; 28:20)

No other teacher has set himself up as a perfect example for us to follow. Jesus says he always did what was pleasing to God, and he calls us to follow him in all things. (John 8:29; 14:24)

Jesus is a God-anointed teacher, and not "merely" a teacher, though merely a man, like us. Jesus, unlike any other religious figure, calls us to imitate him. He says we can do all that he has done, and calls us to a challenging, active religious life. (Acts 2:22; 13:23; John 13:15; 14:12)

The words he spoke were grounded in his Father and ours, God. God’s moral teachings were shown in Jesus’ teachings more clearly and purely than in any other human being.

To call ourselves his friends and followers, then, is the most important thing we can say, because these teachings of his are the most pure, most Godly and therefore most important teachings ever shared amongst the human race.

Jesus said he shared all things with us, saying, "I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (Matt. 15:15)

And Jesus taught that to preach God's good and beneficial message (Gospel) was the reason he went out to the villages of Judea. It consisted of his entire mission, and that was the only thing he came to do. (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:18-19)

To speak of Jesus' blood saving us in some way apart from obedience to his teachings is meaningless. Unless we honor both the life that his blood sustained, as well as his teachings that revealed God's will for our lives, we are not changed by Jesus and our hearts are not turned back to obeying God's moral Law.

His life and his death serve equally as examples of supreme love and self-sacrifice, because Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," and also, "You are my friends, IF you do as I command you." (John 15:13-14)

Everyone who hears his precious teachings, says Jesus, but does not act on them, "will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand." (John 7:24)

The Gospel IS Jesus' teachings. It can be based on nothing else, and no other man's Gospel than the one Jesus preached can be put in its place. We, therefore, have one master, one Gospel and we serve one God, the God Jesus himself worshiped and calls us to love with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

#Jesus: Anointed By God And Sent Out To Preach #JesusFollowers

                             

Jesus came into, and went out into, "the world," when, leaving the country around the Jordan River, he returned to Capernaum after the imprisonment of John, and began to teach in the synagogues and preach, saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

In general it is to be observed, that "to come into the world," do not ordinarily, if ever, in the language of the New Testament, signify to be born, but publicly to assume the character of a divinely-appointed teacher: and "to be sent" signifies to be invested by God with this position, and to be begin an active mission to support it. 

When this public mission came upon him, he says, "I came not of my own accord, but He [God] sent me." (John 8:42) And says, "The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve." (Matt. 20:28) These words cannot either with propriety or truth be referred to his entrance into life, for he did come at birth to serve others, and did not anoint himself to this mission, and certainly not as a baby.

Here he is proposing an example to his disciples, and appeals to the knowledge they had of his conduct among them, from his first entrance on his ministry at the age of 30.

He did not make disciples for his own sake, but for theirs; he came not out into towns of Judea to be served by them, but to serve them, and was hereafter to carry his services so far, as even to lay down his life in their behalf.

Jesus, speaking of himself, says, "him whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world." (John 10:36) He was first consecrated, when "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth," says Peter, "with the holy Spirit and with power," to go about doing good. (Acts 10:38)

At the baptism of Jesus, God was heard to say of Jesus, "you are my Beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22) And an old reading of this same verse reads, "You are my son, today I have begotten you [become your father]," echoing Psalm 2:7 (and Hebrews 1:5) Both versions testify to his anointing for his mission at his baptism.

Thus this man was set apart, consecrated to his office, and qualified to discharge it, and then was commissioned to go out into the world to execute this mission. According to our Master's own words, he "came into the world" only after his baptism, at which God's holy Spirit descended upon him, and not before.

Jesus, addressing himself to God, and speaking of his disciples, says, "As you have sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." What is it that he here says of his disciples? How was it that he sent them into the world? 

After they had been fully instructed in things about to the kingdom of God, he sent them out unto all nations to preach to others the doctrine he had delivered to them.

When he says of himself, therefore, that God "sent him into the world," since he was sent by the Father, as they were sent by him, he speaks of the authority with which he was invested, of the command that had been given him to publish to the world the doctrine which he had himself received from the Father.

The spirit was not poured out on Jesus, he was not invested with divine authority and power, thus qualified to execute the will of God and sent out into the world, to take vengeance on them for their sins; but to impart to them, at the expense of all worldly comforts, and, in the end, of life itself, the most consolatory and the most salutary doctrine, the belief and the obedience of which will entitle them unto eternal life.

Is it an advantage that such a great example should was held up to our imitation? Definitely. Would not any person, who aspires to perfect virtue, wish that a perfect model of it should be placed before them, to illustrate and recommend its maxims and its precepts, to guide and to encourage, to animate desires, to invigorate endeavors, and to excite emulation?

This advantage is enjoyed by us far more perfectly than could have been if our Master had not gone out into the world; for by this means his virtues are rendered more conspicuous, they are seen by us in a greater variety of lights, proved by a greater variety of difficulties and temptations, and his example is made applicable to a greater variety of circumstances and conditions.

We see what, if he had continued in obscurity, we could not have seen in him that our duty is in every instance practicable; that virtue is in every condition possible, and abounds with such comforts as can make any circumstances tolerable.

By this means we have the instructions, and encouragements, and incitements, that are contained in his example, who was in all points tempted as we are, and yet was without sin. We may be pure in heart, we may be holy in all manner of conversation; we may have the same mind that was in Jesus; we may walk as he also walked; we may be like God, and acceptable to him; ever growing in his likeness and his friendship. To what dignity, to what comforts of the Gospel of Jesus may we achieve! How good is God! How great a gift is Jesus!

(Adapted from the works of Newcombe Cappe, 1733-1800)

Serving Others With Righteous Acts

 

To take on the name of Jesus and follow him means far more than spouting a mere handful of words and comfortably considering oneself "saved" for all eternity. Jesus calls us to take up his yoke, to serve others, to pursue Righteousness through righteous acts, and to store up treasure in Heaven rather than on earth.

In short, to follow Jesus is to take up a challenge - to take up a call to serve.

Jesus says, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Mark 8:34.) He calls on us to follow his example, and to "do just as I have done to you (John 13:15) saying clearly that he "came not to be served but to serve.” (Mark 10:45.)

We are to love God with 100% of our heart, mind, soul and strength  and ALSO to love our neighbor just as we are accustomed to loving ourselves (Mark 12:30-31.)

And just who is our neighbor? Jesus was asked this and gave a clear answer in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was robbed and left for dead on the side of the road, and many walked right by him. But one man stopped and brought him to a local inn and paid for his shelter and his needs. That man, he said, was the one who was a good "neighbor" to this stranger. And we are told by Jesus, "You go, and do the same" (Luke 10:37.)

This is a call to do good - a call to serve Others, just as Jesus served others. We are able to serve just as Jesus served, we are commanded to do so, and Jesus confirms this with his words (John 14:23-24) which will never pass away (Matt. 24:35.) And as John wrote, "the one who does what is right is righteous, just as [Jesus] is righteous" (1 John 3:7.)

We are to be the hands and words and comforting arms of God's Kingdom here on Earth. We are called by Jesus to be a People of God, to serve Others in the name of God's Anointed servant, Jesus. And we are called to forgive others, if we expect to be forgiven by God (Mark 6:14-15.)

To follow Jesus and pursue his perfect example means we must serve Others with our Works, both alone and also as a community of Faith. For whenever two or three gather in his name, the spirit of Jesus is amongst us (Matt. 18:30.) 

Jesus preached that we are to repent of our sins and live our lives completely dedicated to serving others, all the while relying fully on God's forgiveness and mercy. Only our repentance and Righteous acts can save us, not mere words or faith without repentance and Good Works, upon which we shall be judged, and only the Righteous shall be with God eternally (Matt. 25:46.)

By living according to the will of God, as shown in the life, teachings and death of God's chosen spokesman, Jesus, we grow into the likeness of God, seeking after God's perfection and growing more spiritually mature and perfect each day.

Some Words On #Jesus By Jefferson

 

The free exercise of reason is all I ask for the vindication of the character of Jesus. We find in the writings of his biographers matter of two distinct descriptions. First, a work of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions. Intermixed with these are sublime ideas of the Supreme Being, aphorisms and precepts of the purest morality and benevolence, sanctioned by a life of humility, innocence, and simplicity of manners, neglect of riches, absence of worldly ambition and honors, with an eloquence and persuasiveness which have not been surpassed. these could not be inventions of the grovelling authors who relate them. they are far beyond the powers of their feeble minds. they show that there was a character, the subject of their history, whose splendid conceptions were above all suspicion of being interpolations from their hands. Can we be at a loss in separating such materials, and ascribing each to its genuine author?

The difference is obvious to the eye and to the understanding, and I will venture to affirm that he who, as I have done, will undertake to winnow this grain from its chaff, will find it not to require a moment’s consideration. the two parts fall away from themselves as would those of an image of metal & clay. 

Jesus preached philanthropy & universal charity and benevolence.But the office of reformer of the superstitions of a nation is dangerous. Jesus had to walk on the perilous confines of reason and religion: and one step to right or left might place him within the path of the priests of superstition, a bloodthirsty group, as they were constantly laying snares to entangle him.

- Excerpted from a letter from former Pres. Thomas Jefferson to William Short, August 4, 1820.

The Pure, Simple Faith #Jesus Taught! #JesusFollowers

             

To promote real morality and true piety, we can conceive nothing so well fitted as the simplicity of Jesus - the plain, unequivocal, uninvolved requirement of love to God, tested by love to others and active usefulness in life. 

How utterly simple and plain, how free from all subtlety and dogmatic obscurity, is the teaching of Jesus.

His Sermon on the Mount is indisputable, practical, simple, having no abstruse, remote, or novel concepts. It proclaims no ideas that amaze or confuse, nor does it call for careful consideration on account of its novelty. It is a solemn, searching declaration of the universal religion of humanity. 

In it, he proclaims that God is holy, wise, good; blessed are you if you are pure, meek, hungering for righteousness, and living from the heart pure, useful, holy lives. This is all the doctrine there is in it ; not a word about the nature of the Godhead, the fall of man, the need of the atonement, the deity of Christ, the necessity of baptism and the saving sacrament of the  communion.  

Jesus was no scholar. He spoke the language and the truth and the religion of a simple, deep-thinking representative of universal humanity - true always, everywhere, and for all. There is nothing to add, nothing to take away, nothing to excuse or to explain away in his clear teachings. 

His teachings do not need any changes for the times, or the nation, or the circumstances, to account for them. It is because they give voice to what humanity knows and feels to be deepest and holiest, that they hold the allegiance of the Twenty-first, just as they will for those living of the Thirty-first Century. 

We cannot conceive of anything pertaining to our religious wants or our religious faith that do not already exist in the precepts, spirit, and example of Jesus.

We can very easily make the clear, simple, moral fact precisely what we choose to have it by enough twisted reasoning. And as we consider our consciences, so we are apt to consider our religion. God has pronounced it simple, plain, unmistakable. Jesus has taught and illustrated it in ways a child can understand. But it is so plain that it becomes severe; so simple that it looks cold and hard, like a marble statue.

We often hear the simplicity of Jesus as it reveals itself in the Sermon on the Mount compared disparagingly with the complicated faith of the Nicene Creed. But what can we call “the Christian religion” except that which really adds nothing to the old Jewish and the older natural religion of love to God and love to man, except the example and spirit of Jesus! 

What becomes of the Fall, and the Curse, and the Atonement, and the Sacraments, and the Trinity, and the Deity of Christ, and all the rest of the dogmatic paraphernalia of religion? They become invisible, like candles in the presence of the sun. 

It is the keeping of these great commandments that discloses their richness and fullness. They are simple, few, and concise. But live by them, and you will find that all the bodies of divinity in the world could not contain their lessons, or describe the glorious richness of their contents.

Do not allow yourselves to fall under the dominion of these high-sounding subtleties, these dark dogmas, these involved metaphysical puzzles, which pass for religion and Christianity. They will unsettle your common sense, and fog up your conscience, and finally make you think religion is not the plainest thing in the world - a highway, in which the wayfaring human, though a fool, need not err, — but an enigma and a riddle, a sphinx which you must helplessly bow before and adore, though it will answer no question you put to it.

It is not the unknown we can profit by, but the known. It is not the obscure, but the plain, that should have our attention. It takes no learning, no scholarship, no formal logic, no fine-spun reasoning, to know God so far as we need to know Him, as a moral governor and Father of our spirits; to know Jesus as a holy, gentle, and wise master and guide of character; to know our duty well enough to live chastely, truthfully, honestly, with mercy and sympathy.

(Adapted from a sermon by Dr. Henry W. Bellows)

In Praise of Reason #JesusFollowers

Some view Reason as opposed to God, and its use as somehow usurping, insulting or opposing Him, as if Reason was by its nature opposed to God.

But Human Reason must be seen as a gift of God, which He implanted within us for us to discover, using the other gifts which He entrusted to us.

We should never base our opinion of a thing based on a false judgement of it, or by the worst belief someone holds of it.

Human Reason can, if not truly reasonable, lead us astray. It can lead us to believe we are greater than the creator, that Reason is itself greater than that which created us, and it.

Once it’s considered to be such a thing, it is condemned, but falsely, since that’s not human Reason IS.

Reason and Faith are not opposed to one another, but are instead both necessary for us to understand God and God's will for us.

Rationality walks hand-in-hand with Spirituality. When irrational elements of religion are stripped away, we may focus clearly on the mission God's Anointed One, Jesus sends us to do.

God gave us Reason and the ability to obey Him, and Reason is a God-given gift we must use to discern His Will.

Just as we ought to not condemn someone based on others’ opinions of them – or mere rumors ABOUT them, which often are not true or are based on false assumptions, biases or slanders – we ought to assess Reason in its truest and purest form, rather than the worst assumptions about it.

Many do the same for the Religion Jesus left us. They consider all the horrific things done it its name, the abuses done to people, the wars, the complicated and contradictory doctrines – and assume them to be the highest version of that religion. Then they say, “See, these examples ARE the religion of Jesus, therefore, we must reject it.”

Such things SHOULD be rejected, but to assume that this is the True Religion of Jesus is to start with a false assumption.

It would be as if we judged a tree in autumn, with its leaves fallen out or yellow with age to be “dead,” not knowing about, or deliberately not remembering, the vibrant greens of spring.

Those who have rejected God, also often base that rejection on only the worst aspects of the Christian religion: the toxic additions of men, not the purity of its founder, Jesus.

So too, rejecting the Godly faculty of Reason, it’s been said, prepares one for worse and worse delusions. [Channing, Discourse, 1826]

The teachings of Jesus are reasonable. Jesus calls us to love God with all understanding (Matt. 15:10.) Jesus reminds us that God wishes us to “love the Lord your God with ALL YOUR MIND” (Mark 12:30.) We cannot fully love God, therefore, unless we use ALL of the understanding and knowledge God Himself gave us, and continues to give us.

Reason in fact plays a huge and important role in God’s religion, as expressed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. And just as Reason finds a place, so also is Wisdom, knowledge and understanding greatly praised by scripture, though often, as in Jesus’ time, they are degraded by men who are assumed to be “wise” in religious knowledge.

We must fully embrace the Reasonableness of the Gospel that Jesus has taught, just as the former Prophets of God testified to God’s wisdom and knowledge, which He shares with all of us when we seek it.

When Yahweh says, “Come, let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18) He expresses his desire to engage and converse with us, His creation, and make reasonable terms by which we may be His children.

In the Proverbs, we read, "By wisdom Yahweh founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens. By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew. My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion: so they will be life to your soul, and grace for your neck. Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won't stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet." (Proverbs 3:19-24)

We are to use our gift of Reason, just as our gifts of wisdom and knowledge, to walk in the way of Jesus, who walked perfectly in the way of God. Our feet stumble less when we adhere to the correct path, guided by these gifts.

Putting Others First, Just As Jesus Taught! #JesusFollowers

 

What if everyone put others first in all things? What if all of us, all the time, thought of others' needs and put ourselves in second place?

If this concept doesn't sound familiar to you, it should, because this thinking is at the core of the teaching of Jesus, and is actually the Gospel he taught.

If Jesus is the one whom God chose to be our teacher of Righteousness and our perfect example to follow, what he says actually matters.

And while we would sometimes like to give others' words equal authority to his, in fact, Jesus' words alone are to be our pathway to the life God wishes us to live, if he alone is our Master.

Jesus taught that we must seek not to be first, or the Greatest among others, but instead to be the last, putting others first.

Jesus told a parable saying that we must not seek to give the most important and most visible public seats to alleged VIPs - seeking favors from thrm in return - but instead, we ought to let others, including the poor and disabled sit with us.

“When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed." (Luke 14:12-14)

Jesus taught that God doesn't make distinctions among people, and neither should we.

When some of his disciples asked to be given honors, he said that the first would be last and the last would be made first.

Jesus made it clear, speaking to the disciples,  "whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave." Jesus says he made his life a ransom for many, giving all to others. We, he said, must do the same.

Jesus says we must love our neighbors just as we love ourselves, and treat others as we wish to be treated. Further, he said we must deny ourselves if we are to follow him.

We ought to heed Jesus' teachings, then, and seek to treat everyone equally, putting others first, and our desires second.

It's clear from all the he taught that Jesus calls us all to a life of action and Good Works. Every one of our actions in our daily lives should show to others how God wishes humanity to relate to one another and to our Creator.

God wishes us to be holy, just as God is holy, merciful, just as God is merciful, and righteous, just as God is righteous.

Jesus says he did all that God asked him to do, and calls us to always seek to do the same. (John 8:29; 13:15)

Jesus never shirked his duty to serve others, even washing the feet of the disciples as a sign of his humility and how he was living as a "ransom" to others (John 13.)

Serving each other selflessly is the pattern our exemplar, Jesus, gave us to follow. It's not too hard for us, and it's not just a model to admire.

He gave us this example not to make us feel insignificant and unworthy, or to merely "convict us" of our inability to do it, but to prove that this is a path that we, too, may tread, in his footsteps.

By taking up the challenge of seeking to emulate Jesus in all things, we are pleasing God, Who, through Jesus, gave us this challenging Good News, and Who made us capable of accepting it and doing as He wishes us to do.

"Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matt. 16:24)

"And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 8:39)

This was quite the opposite of the teaching of the religious authorities of the time, the scribes and Pharisees, of whom Jesus said, "They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues." (Matt. 23:6)

God wishes us to put others first, and his chosen son and spokesman, Jesus, demonstrated in word and deed how to do this perfectly, then told us to follow him and do just as he had done.

Let's get busy, then, serving and loving our neighbors!