The Prison of Faith

Jesus belonged to the clan of the chosen people. Yet the tribes had been in conflict with each other—at times deadly—for centuries. Jesus saw this obvious flaw in the chosen-people concept. How could conflicting groups all have God on their side?

He preached about everyone’s equal worth. God was for everyone, and everyone was 
”the light of the world.” Matt 5:14

The rulers of the clan accused him of abandoning the Law and the teachings of the Prophets. He replied that he ”did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Matt 5:17

The audience hearing this declaration knew the difference between the Law of mortals and the Law of the world; natural law; God’s law. In case anyone doubted what he meant and who he was referring to, he added, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5:20

The scribes and Pharisees were the equivalent of today’s mainstream media and politicians. To surpass them was encouragement to go beyond the laws and faith of the prevailing order.  It wasn’t a battle cry, not a command to attack. The prophet was telling them to get to work, God’s work. Take up the torch of light within you! Surpass the present conditions and build a new order based on love and truth!
It was a deal they could not refuse, if they hoped to ”enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The authorities, threatened by an unauthorised prophet, a ”son of God”, accused him of being a dangerous misinformer and had him executed.

A ”son of God” was a common complimentary title for a prominent prophet 2000 years ago, similar to calling an outstanding singer the ”King” of Jazz or the ”Queen” of the Blues. Referring to Jesus as THE son of God instead of A son of God testifies to the greatness of his preaching. He would probably be called The Goat in the jargon of today’s youth.

We can appreciate the greatness, or ”Goatness”, of this prophet’s teachings, by considering the power it takes to liberate someone from a prison of faith. Nothing less than a holy force could persuade people to leave a position as a favourite of God to become a promoter of truth and love. 

What will it take to surpass the scribes and Pharisees of the present money-oriented order? How can the people be encouraged to take up the light within themselves, and get to work building a people-oriented order based on truth and love? How do we break out of the present prison of faith to get to the kingdom of heaven; the garden of peace and beauty upon the earth?

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“History chews on the past and we know what it does with the parts that can’t be digested.” Dartwill Aquilav

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