56. Teaching on Tolerance

The first thing we need to understand here is that the Jews and the Samaritans were not chums. The Samaritans, who practiced a hybrid form of Judaism, were considered at best “half-Jews” by the Israelites and were no doubt discriminated against.

Now suppose the Samaritans of this village had heard about Jesus and believed the common misperception that he had come to ring in the apocalypse, where the wheat is separated from the chaff, and chaff is all burned up. Who would the Samaritans be in that analogy? Chaff. How eager would they have been to receive Jesus? Not very.

So the disciples, being offended, want to know if Jesus wants to burn up those nasty Samaritans right then and there (yet more proof that they could not shake the apocalyptic expectation). Of course Jesus does not want to do that at all, because that is not consistent with the spirit of God, which is the spirit of wholeness, not divisiveness, and which desires mercy, not sacrifice. The disciples are ignorant of the true spirit of God, the very spirit that animates their lives. Hence Jesus’ rebuke: Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

[See also “Teaching on Tolerance,” Commentary 10-52.]

57. Some Tests of Discipleship

To quote a line from a pop song, Jesus is saying “it is not easy being me.” Or, more accurately, it is not easy being a son of God. The primary requirement is complete detachment – from home, from family, and from duty, custom and obligations. God requires a total commitment; no other relationship can supersede it or we will ultimately fail to do the right thing. For the scribes and Pharisees, power and prestige and wealth were primary, and as a result they were unable to see what was really required.

To have your hand on the plough while looking backward is to be split, not whole; distracted, not focused. To be in the kingdom of God is to be of ONE spirit – present, responsive, loving.

[See also “Some Costs of Discipleship” (Commentary 10-49), and “The Costs of Discipleship (Commentary 12-73).]

58. The Way of Eternal Life

Jesus is being asked what is required to inherit eternal life. What might the questioner mean by that phrase, eternal life? It is probable that he means some sort of post-apocalyptic, everlasting existence in Heaven. So Jesus asks him, what does the Jewish religion – the law – recommend? He answers: To love God totally – with all thy heart, soul, strength and mind – and thy neighbor as thyself.

This commandment to love all is in complete alignment with the perception that all life is one. So Jesus responds that he has answered right: This do, and thou shalt live. He does not say this do, and thou shalt have eternal life. But that thou shalt live. Thou shalt be fully human.

It could be also that Jesus was saying this do and thou shalt have eternal life. But the meaning would be different, referring not to an individual life, but perhaps the ongoingness of the human species. This do, and our species will continue.

59. The Definition of Neighbor

Jewish law says to love your neighbor as yourself. But in Jesus’ day, the definition of neighbor was a fellow Jew. If you were, say, a Samaritan, who as we know did not get along with the Jews, then the law did not apply.

Tribalism in Jesus’ day was rife. Like a high school campus, identity was built around what group you belonged to. Those inside your group were friends and neighbors, those outside were inconsequential at best, enemies at worst.

Once again, Jesus lifts the teaching to a higher level. The definition of neighbor transcends tribal boundaries. It is anyone who manifests God’s mercy.

60. Many Things vs One Thing

I bet we can all relate to Martha. How many times have we had the experience of doing work when others, rather than helping, are sitting around and enjoying themselves? It can make us resentful can’t it?

Well, Jesus puts responsibility back on our shoulders. Our state of being is up to us.

Earlier we looked at a passage where Jesus said, “let your speech be yea yea or nea nea, and whatsoever is more than that is of evil.” Jesus’ point was, don’t be split, be whole and of one spirit.

If you do not want to serve, stop serving. Or else serve and drop the resentment. But don’t serve and be resentful. Then you’re not taking care of the one thing that is needful: your spirit.

61. Elements of Prevailing Prayer

Wrapped up in this passage are many beautiful teachings that help to reveal the true nature of our relationship to God.

First, let’s look at the prayer that Jesus recommends. He starts by calling God “Father”. While today many would take exception to the assumption that God is masculine, let’s for now set that objection aside and try without prejudice to understand Jesus’ frame of reference. Then on your own see if the meaning of the teaching changes if you instead assume a feminine nature for God. 

Father,

By using the word “Father,” Jesus suggests two things: One, we are all “Sons of God”; it is not a relationship available only to a chosen few. Two, our relationship with God has a very personal aspect to it.  The father gives of his seed to make life, and the seed lives on in the offspring. Being a son of God is therefore a statement of our identity, and revealing the true nature of that identity is the purpose of all of Jesus’ teachings. 

Hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed means “whole”; so Jesus is saying, “Whole be thy name.” God is one-- one creator manifesting one spirit of love and mercy and compassion and forgiveness. 

Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

The kingdom of God is here on Earth when we do God’s will. The knowledge of God’s will is available to us, but we must be the ones to manifest it here on Earth. No one else is going to do that.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

A petition to receive what we need to serve God, and no more. It puts money in its place. No need to be a multi-millionaire or billionaire. In fact, at best wealth is a distraction from what is really important, and at worst, it prevents others from getting their daily bread. It brings to mind an earlier teaching: “What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world but loseth his own soul?”

And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one who has wronged us.

This hearkens back to Jesus earlier teaching on forgiveness. As we are forgiven, so we forgive. When we are conscious of God’s love, we cannot help but reflect it back to others.

So ends the prayer. Then Jesus goes on, providing additional insight into the nature of God.

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father give good things to them that ask him?

This section brings to mind a famous speech given by John F. Kennedy in 1962, in which he sets out the goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade -- well before we had any idea how that could really be accomplished. It was in today’s parlance a BHAG: a big, hairy, audacious goal. But we sought and knocked and asked, and the universe revealed to us its secrets, and the mission was accomplished. 

The same process holds true for our religious journey. Whatever we need to know to be able to love God with all our soul, mind, heart and strength, is available to us if we seek, knock and ask.

All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.

Does this mean if I pray for a million dollars, or a really nice car, or a house in the Bahamas, and believe that I’ve received it, it will be so? Hmmm...that seems doubtful.

The condition here may be that we pray for what we need, not what we want. And when praying for what we need, Jesus may just be recommending that we have an attitude of faith. Believe that you will get the answers you seek, and you will.

62. Limitations of Exorcism

It seems that by this time Jesus had had a fair amount of experience curing mental illness, and he observed something in the process: That in being healed, if you do not fill the vacuum with something better – say a particular purpose for your life – you can suffer a relapse more sever than the original illness.

63. Basis of Real Relationship to Jesus

This is similar to an earlier teaching where Jesus says that “whosoever does the will of my Father, the same is my mother, and brother and sister.”

[See also “Basis of Real Relationship to Jesus,” Commentary 7-33.]