One of those stories (John) is mostly a copy of a copy of Greek mythology re-written to fit the "Jesus" figure.
Hi Fester. If you've read a bit of my posts, then you might have discovered somewhere along the way that I have researched these copycat theories, and don't find them credible. This includes Mithra comparisons :)
Mat 10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
I think I answered this one on another thread of yours. Peace or Sword?
Mat 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. and Mat 10:36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
Because of what those fathers/daughters/mothers would do. Holding to the hypocrisy and/or the lies of the Pharisees and teachers of the law - instead of the freedom and truth that Christ offered. I imagine some believing in Jesus as the Messiah, and others wanting Him dead, would have caused division between them.
Mat 10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Love me more than your father/mother/son/daughter. Why? Because He teaches the truth about love and about mercy and about faith. He IS the truth. And we can trust Him with our love, first and foremost - because what does he do with it? He turns around and tells us to love one another. To forgive. To be merciful.
Not everyone has a mother/father/son/daughter who teaches and lives that. Doesn't mean not to love them or not to try and help them. Just to love Christ more - perhaps then you actually can help them.
I personally love my tangible existing family more than I could ever love a character in a book. Is that wrong?
No. But then, I think we differ in our opinion of whether Jesus is merely a character in a book.
Moreover, in Luke, Jesus says that his disciples must "hate" (Greek word Miseo) their parents. Without trying to wrest these texts into something other than what they plainly say, can you explain this? . Since Jesus taught us to love even our enemies - we do have to consider why He would say hate here. Keeping in mind that the word 'miseo' also means to love less - which is a message that we already know Jesus taught, as seen in the passage that you gave above. . Also, in the same passage, Jesus says to hate even their own lives. Keep in mind the people and time that he is speaking. Those people were following the Pharisees and teachers of the law - the rules of men, rather than the commands of God; they were dead in their sins (spiritually), unloving, unmerciful, blind and hypocritical. Hate those - including what they had of those things in themselves. Then follow Him. . What good then, is he? . He is truth and life. He offers both to us. . Tammy
