Listen to what they Say...
It has been said that Jesus the son of Mary told a gathering of people, during one of his sermons:
“Listen to what they say, but do not do what they do!”
Nowadays, people look at the church representatives, and say Jesus was right - the priests, cardinals and the likes, evangelise the words of Jesus, but live a quite different life, not to say opposite to what they preach… Even though this saying is entirely applicable to the Christian clergy, the logic is wrong, due to a blatant anachronism. When Jesus uttered, if he did, these famous words, there was neither a Christian church nor priests preaching any Christianity and Christian way of life. There was only Rabbi’s and Pagans, and Jesus was not in agreement with neither their words nor their acts! So what is the mystery behind these words? Maybe if we study what Jesus said and did, we can uncover some clues about this mystery.
Here are, according to my repeated reading of the New Testament, the most important teachings that Jesus bestowed, during his evangelical years, on his apostles, disciples and the people of Israel in general:
Forgive them, for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34
You shall know them by their fruits and their deeds. Matthew 7:16
It is not what goes into people’s mouth that defiles them, but what comes out of it. Mark 7:15
When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Matthew 6:2
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, because they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Matthew 7:6
Give to Caesar what to Caesar, and to God what to God. Matthew 22:21
Judge not, as not to be judged by God. By your judgments you will be judged and by your measures you will be measured. Matthew 7:1
He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her. John 8:7
Let your communication be: yes, yes or no, no. Matthew 5:37
No man can serve two Masters, God and Money. Matthew 6:24
Love the other person like you love yourself. Matthew 22:39
As we read and understand these 11 teachings of wisdom, tolerance, justice, honesty, giving, and love, we definitely understand why we should listen to what Jesus said. These 11 teachings surely represent important values in which we should anchor our lives. `
In order to apply the above-mentioned teachings, there are things we should do and other things we shouldn’t. For example, we should not:
Rely on other people to provide us with our daily bread.
Impose ourselves in other people’s weddings and banquets.
Destroy the source of living of other people just because we don’t agree with their views on what makes a decent job.
Rebuke our mother for being too young and foolish when she created us, when she is trying everything in her power to repair this mistake
Refuse to get involved with a woman we love because we are afraid of the responsibilities of marriage, family, kids and how to raise them, provide them with good life and see them through to adulthood.
Judge and condemn our friends, after they have deployed every effort in providing us with the wellbeing and the peace we needed to preach our teachings.
Decide to leave and abandon all those who believed in us because the will and the courage to continue have failed us.
Take the biggest risks without considering the dire consequences that might befall on the people around us.
After a lifelong of preaching the power of having God beside us, ask the strangest question, just before we die: “my God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
Knowing what Jesus did in his life, as related in the Holy Scriptures, and reading the above examples, we come to believe that the initial recommendation coming from Jesus was most likely:
“Listen to what I say and don’t do what I do”?
This way, the sentence makes sense! Christianity is effectively about applying in our daily lives, the words of Jesus, which He was not doing!!! But here again, this poses a real challenge to all of us, as it is clear to everyone that it is impossible to apply all Jesus teachings, as transmitted to us, and still live as a human being in flesh and soul, glorifying and creating life, the first and most important gift from God!
So, it seems that the ultimate recommendation, from me, would be:
“Listen to what Jesus said, and do what you can and have to do!”
We are always seeking some truth about something, and we never find anything more tangible and lasting than the emptiness that surrounds most of our lives...
As the famous social guru said in Fargo: “human minds aroused by an insistence of meaning, seek and find nothing but contradiction and nonsense”