The Words and Thoughts of Jesus Require Great Understanding

The words of Jesus are most profound and require great thought and reflection. The idea that Jesus is some sort of mythological creature or what he says is so much foolishness, is belied by his very profound words and statements. I’d like to walk through some of Jesus’s most telling words and thoughts. For example, Jesus is reported as saying that the poor are blessed and that the poor in spirit are humble. The issue is what does Jesus mean by this. These words could be interpreted as meaning that Jesus endorses or wishes people to be poor. In fact, I think Jesus is in fact concerned with poverty and its eradication and very much wishes an equalization of wealth in society. Most of Jesus’ followers were poor and poverty stricken, and Jesus himself had no great material wealth. I think what Jesus means here is that poverty in our present society is not good and that the suffering of the poor in the present world will be rewarded in the next. In short, Jesus does not want poverty and I am sure he wishes poverty to be eliminated as much as possible. I am sure he wishes, as I said, equalization of wealth in the world. This is one of Jesus’s most profound and puzzling statements that I think I have correctly interpreted.

Let us look at a few more sayings of Jesus, which are very difficult at first glance to grasp and understand. Jesus made two statements that are very difficult to absorb. These statements are the following: He says anger is equivalent to murder, and lust is equivalent to adultery. I do not think he means to say that anger is the same as murder or lust the same as adultery. I think what he means to tell us is that anger leads to murder and lust leads to adultery. I think this is what he means. I don’t think me means to claim that they are the same.

There is a third set of sayings that are extremely puzzling and difficult to grasp. Jesus says to love your neighbor, and then he says to love your enemy, and then he also says and asks that we pray for those who persecute us. These are very difficult commands to fulfill. I am not sure what he means by using the word love with respect to your neighbor and your enemy. It is clear that he is extending the command to love beyond our neighbor and extending it to our enemy and those who persecute us. I am not sure how it is possible to love someone whom you do not know who may be your neighbor and then how he can expect us to extend our love to an enemy and persecutor. The best explanation I can offer is that the word love is meant to cover rendering to all men, enemy and neighbor and persecutor to mean that we should treat all with the same respect and concern as we give to ourselves.

I can say in fuller explanation that Jesus died the death of an executed criminal, had many poverty-stricken followers, as well as so-called sinners who also followed him. I note that he was accused and his reason not understood of associating and socializing with the outcasts of society. It is no wonder that he commands us to love all men and women, neighbor, enemy and persecutor.

Since this is an almost impossible command, I would suggest that it can only be fulfilled by any of us but by the grace of God and Christ. We cannot do on our own what is essentially humanly impossible. I hope that I have shed some light on the words and thoughts of Christ since I do well know that I am quite inadequate to this task.