83. Teachings About Divorce

In Western society, we have a different attitude about divorce than existed in Jesus’ time. Most of the cultural inhibitions against divorce have worn away, particularly when divorce is motivated by the need to get out of a harmful relationship.

However, even from our modern Western perspective, we can still bridge back and find meaning in Jesus’ words. Once again we have to start from the basic premise that underlies all of Jesus’ teachings: All life is one, interconnected, interdependent whole.

For humans, the most fundamental implication of this oneness is that we all share a common capacity both for evil and for good. When we deny that capacity – when we see only “good” in ourselves while freely projecting “evil” onto others – we split our personality in two, with the repressed aspects forming what psychologist Carl Jung referred to as our “shadow.”

It is our shadow that is the source of much of the conflict in our lives. Having rejected certain qualities in ourselves, we reject them in others as well. Conflict is therefore a signal that tells us that our shadow is at work. It is also an opportunity to look at our shadow, to accept it, and then to integrate it into our conscious personality. In doing so, we resolve the split and become, like the system that created us, “whole.” We are also less likely to project our shadow onto others, giving us the ability to see reality more clearly.

So what does all this have to do with marriage? It is a popular truism that we marry our opposite, thereby creating a union rich in potential conflict. If both parties are aware of the existence of their shadow and understand the need to bring it to consciousness, then the inevitable conflicts of marriage can provide a safe and loving environment within which that can occur. Through this process, each partner is able to integrate “the opposite” represented by the spouse, symbolically becoming, in Jesus’ words, “one flesh.”

84. Essential for Entrance into Kingdom

We have proposed that the kingdom of God is not a place, but an attitude or spirit of acceptance and creative response (love). Above all it is an attitude of being open and receptive to the present moment, free of any baggage from the past.

By “baggage” we mean unconscious conditioning that can interfere with our ability to respond appropriately to the present situation. We’ve probably all had the experience – both personally and observed in others – where a reaction to a situation seemed overblown and inappropriate. That is unconscious conditioning – baggage – at work.

Little children have very little baggage. They are more naturally present, open, and receptive. According to Jesus, a prerequisite for entering the kingdom of God is to clean up our baggage... to deal with our issues so that they do not interfere with our ability to perceive clearly.

[See also “Discourse on the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 7-34), “Limits of the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 12-69), “Time of the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 13-79) and “Time of the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 14-89).]

85. Relation of Possessions to Eternal Life

To enter into the kingdom of God, we must be free of all attachments. We have seen this teaching repeatedly throughout the book. We saw it in Discourse on Standards of Righteousness (Chapter 5, #26), Discourse on the Kingdom of God (Chapter 7, #34), Some Costs of Discipleship (Chapter 10, #49), Some Tests of Discipleship (Chapter 11, #57), The Way of Eternal Life (Chapter 11, #58), Teaching About Reliance on Wealth (Chapter 12, #67), The Costs of Discipleship (Chapter 12, #73), God versus Mammon (Chapter 13, #75), Relations of Possessions to Eternal Life (Chapter 14, #85), and The Rich Publican of Jericho (Chapter 14, #88).

Too much money, it seems, is a huge liability when it comes to entering the kingdom of God. Money brings power and prestige, comfort and acceptance, opportunity and status – all things that people, once they have it, are loathe to give up. The problem, of course, is that all of those things are food for the ego, not the soul.

The promise, however, is that if we are willing to detach from all things temporal – and therefore temporary – we stand to gain much more than we ever loose: we gain our own soul, which is to say our true identity as human beings. What’s more, we stand to inherit not temporal but eternal life – which we interpret not in the apocalyptic sense of living forever in heaven, but in the evolutionary sense of inheriting, and then passing on to subsequent generations, the knowledge that will keep the human species viable into the future.

[See also “Teaching About Reliance on Wealth” (Commentary 12-67), “God vs. Mammon” (Commentary 13-75), “The Rich Publican of Jericho” (Commentary 14-88).]

86. Parable on the Basis of Reward

In this parable, the householder is God. The laborers are those who agree to do God’s work. Whether we begin that work in the spring of our lives or in the winter, the reward is the same: We find our true selves.

87. Teaching on Standards of Greatness

This is similar to an earlier passage titled Teachings on Greatness.

Once again we see that the disciples – in this case James and John – are still under the spell of the apocalyptic vision: they ask Jesus for the right to sit on his right and left hand in the kingdom. Jesus mildly rebukes them saying they know not what they ask. Jesus, no doubt fully aware that he will be crucified, and equally aware that James and John have a very different expectation as to how things will turn out, asks them if they are able to accept his same fate: “Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” The disciples say yes, not understanding Jesus’ true meaning. Aware of, but not outwardly acknowledging the misunderstanding, Jesus says, ok then. The same fate awaits you. But will your crucifix be on my right or my left? That is not for me to say.

And then Jesus goes into a familiar teaching about greatness. It is not about status and power and prestige – sitting on Jesus’ right or left – but about having knowledge of the things that make for life, and helping other people gain that same knowledge. Serving people – helping them find and travel the path toward a personal relationship with God – is the highest calling.

[See also “Teaching on Greatness,” Commentary 10-51.]

88. The Rich Publican of Jericho

Zacchaeus is a publican – a tax collector for the Romans. That would make him unpopular among the Jew’s rank and file.

Clearly Zacchaeus has heard of Jesus, has a good impression of him, and is eager to meet him. Jesus likewise may have been told of Zacchaeus by disciples who scouted the town prior to Jesus’ arrival. So when Jesus sees a man small of stature up in a sycamore tree, he has a pretty good idea who it is. Also, having likely been told of his receptivity, Jesus probably sees Zacchaeus’ as a good prospect and so declares his intention to visit Zacchaeus at his home, where presumably they spend some quality time together.

Once again, Jesus association with “sinners” does not go down well with the Jewish leadership, who view such people as pariahs. As we’ve seen, Jesus has a different perspective about sinners: because of their ostracism they are often the ones most open to his message. Clearly he was right about Zacchaeus, who, upon hearing Jesus’ teachings, decides to make full retribution for anything he may have done wrongfully.

[See also “Teaching About Reliance on Wealth” (Commentary 12-67), “God vs. Mammon” (Commentary 13-75), “Relation of Possessions to Eternal Life” (Commentary 14-85).]

89. Time of the Kingdom of God

Throughout his ministry, Jesus has been trying, with seemingly limited success, to give a new definition of the kingdom of God. We see it in his Discourse on the Kingdom of God, Teaching on Forgiveness, Parable on Forgiveness, Teaching on Tolerance, The Way of Eternal Life, The Definition of Neighbor, Limits of the Kingdom of God, Parables on the Worth of Sinners, Parable on the Basis of Justification, Essential for Entrance into Kingdom, and Parable on the Basis of Reward, among other teachings.

In all of these teachings, Jesus attempts to dispel the notion that the kingdom of God “will come about through violence,” where God descends to earth to cast the evil people into fire while raising the good people to heaven. The kingdom of God that Jesus talks about is one of compassion, mercy, acceptance and understanding.

And how will this kingdom be realized? Not when God descends from his heavenly throne. It will come when people start living it – when we use our “talents” in the service of God to create the kingdom here on earth, rather than hiding our talents away where they do no good.

God is not going to save us. But He has given us what we need to save ourselves.

[See also “Discourse on the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 7-34), “Limits of the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 12-69), “Time of the Kingdom of God” (Commentary 13-79) and “Essential for Entrance into Kingdom” (Commentary 14-84).]