One thing that struck me is verse 19 where is speaks of the person who beaks the rules and encourages others to do so. They shall be least in the Kingdom. It does not say, they won't be a part. The idea of least and greatest, various rewards and punishments is quite difficult to get one's head round.
Really appreciate this thought. I agree - some of the words of Jesus can seem jarringly harsh or strangely hierarchical. It can make us worry that heaven will end up looking more like the broken world that we live in than the place our hearts more deeply yearn for.
A few things I've found helpful.
One is to realise that Jesus frequently uses metaphor to make a point, but that metaphors can only go so far. They illustrate and open up ideas, but they are ultimately a poetic literary form, rather than a systematic theology. That might sound a bit wooly, but it's a move from the post-Enlightenment way of reading (where truth = fact) to a more ancient or rabbinic way of thinking, where truth has far more to do with meaning, concepts, or morality. Sometimes we get very caught up in the details of a metaphor, when the metaphor was intended more as a tool to help His listeners out of one frame of thought into a new one.
Another is to hold His words against His practice. In the community around Him, we don't see people berated or put down, as second class citizens looking guilty on the fringe of Jesus' community. What we do see, though, is a total inversion on the value systems of the world - where those usually on the margins get drawn to positions of honour, recognition, participation, and value. The language of least and greatest tends to get used especially around the ideas of how the most pious and religious and judgemental become the excluded, while the most overlooked, broken and messed up become the most greatly honoured.
I also try and become aware of my own points of pain and experience, because we inescapably bring these to what we read. Sometimes we read words, and we find we're hearing them in the tone of a critical friend, or an unloving parent. Those old ways of thinking set our expectations and shape how we receive the world around us.. Thus we can end up hearing the words of Jesus as if they were the words of a wounded human, rather than the one who more deeply than anyone else in history personifies love.
And finally, Jesus sometimes also does really want to challenge us out of places of comfort, and gives us ideas that challenge our ways of thinking. I know that I can become comfortable with the kindness of grace, but often I want to hide from the challenge of being held accountable for my actions. Sometimes those places of discomfort are important. They give us a choice: come further in, grappling with God for deeper insight. Or we check out, looking for an easier path. Remember that Israel was named as those who 'wrestle with God'. He's a God who would far rather we engage in a wrestling match, than stand at a passive distance.
Always hold what we know to be true of God. That He is just and that He is good, and that He is the very definition of love. That means that all things He does, He does from this place of holy love. The journey of discipleship is a lifelong journey into slowly slowly slowly seeing how this love is behind all that He is and says and does. And it will be the atmosphere of our eternity.
Hope that helps, and thanks for coming to this honest. You won't have been the only one to bump up hard against those verses! It's really so good to have you on the journey with us.
One thing that struck me is verse 19 where is speaks of the person who beaks the rules and encourages others to do so. They shall be least in the Kingdom. It does not say, they won't be a part. The idea of least and greatest, various rewards and punishments is quite difficult to get one's head round.
Hey Giles,
Really appreciate this thought. I agree - some of the words of Jesus can seem jarringly harsh or strangely hierarchical. It can make us worry that heaven will end up looking more like the broken world that we live in than the place our hearts more deeply yearn for.
A few things I've found helpful.
One is to realise that Jesus frequently uses metaphor to make a point, but that metaphors can only go so far. They illustrate and open up ideas, but they are ultimately a poetic literary form, rather than a systematic theology. That might sound a bit wooly, but it's a move from the post-Enlightenment way of reading (where truth = fact) to a more ancient or rabbinic way of thinking, where truth has far more to do with meaning, concepts, or morality. Sometimes we get very caught up in the details of a metaphor, when the metaphor was intended more as a tool to help His listeners out of one frame of thought into a new one.
Another is to hold His words against His practice. In the community around Him, we don't see people berated or put down, as second class citizens looking guilty on the fringe of Jesus' community. What we do see, though, is a total inversion on the value systems of the world - where those usually on the margins get drawn to positions of honour, recognition, participation, and value. The language of least and greatest tends to get used especially around the ideas of how the most pious and religious and judgemental become the excluded, while the most overlooked, broken and messed up become the most greatly honoured.
I also try and become aware of my own points of pain and experience, because we inescapably bring these to what we read. Sometimes we read words, and we find we're hearing them in the tone of a critical friend, or an unloving parent. Those old ways of thinking set our expectations and shape how we receive the world around us.. Thus we can end up hearing the words of Jesus as if they were the words of a wounded human, rather than the one who more deeply than anyone else in history personifies love.
And finally, Jesus sometimes also does really want to challenge us out of places of comfort, and gives us ideas that challenge our ways of thinking. I know that I can become comfortable with the kindness of grace, but often I want to hide from the challenge of being held accountable for my actions. Sometimes those places of discomfort are important. They give us a choice: come further in, grappling with God for deeper insight. Or we check out, looking for an easier path. Remember that Israel was named as those who 'wrestle with God'. He's a God who would far rather we engage in a wrestling match, than stand at a passive distance.
Always hold what we know to be true of God. That He is just and that He is good, and that He is the very definition of love. That means that all things He does, He does from this place of holy love. The journey of discipleship is a lifelong journey into slowly slowly slowly seeing how this love is behind all that He is and says and does. And it will be the atmosphere of our eternity.
Hope that helps, and thanks for coming to this honest. You won't have been the only one to bump up hard against those verses! It's really so good to have you on the journey with us.