The Jesus House

From Matthew 19:16-24:

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Jesus said, “You shall not murder, commit adultery, steal nor bear false witness.  Honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.”

The young man said to him, “All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying, he was very sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus said to him, “Well, if that is too difficult, you can just give them away in your heart.  It’s the same thing.”

Then the young man became very happy.  “Really?  That is easy!  Sure, I give my possessions away in my heart.”  And the young man went away with much joy.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say it is very easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Peace.

I couldn’t decide which one to do … so I did them both.  Maybe there will be two different Bibles so that people can pick the ones they’re more comfortable with.

So here goes version (b), Jesus in response to the question, what does it mean to love my neighbor?

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

“Now, by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he began to have compassion on him, but then he wondered if the man was truly a Roman citizen and even had the right to be in the country.  He seemed like he might be from a faraway land.

“Then the Samaritan began to lecture the half-dead man that perhaps he shouldn’t be traveling on this road alone so late at night.  The Samaritan began to ask the half-dead man if he had a job or if he was just going to be a drain on society.  The Samaritan offered the man a program that would teach him a trade if he would like to earn his way and work very hard.  The half-dead man couldn’t answer and the Samaritan took it for basic laziness.

“So which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among thieves?” Jesus asked.

They answered, “The one who gave strict conditions on compassion.”

Jesus answered them, “Go and do likewise.”

Peace.

I’ve decided that I have a service I could render to many evangelicals.  I could rewrite the Bible.

I know, I know.  That sounds somewhat sacrilegious.  But we live in a postmodern society where truth is based on your own perspective and the progressive social system we’ve invented.  So we should have a Bible that reflects all that, right?

So I’m starting a new series, Rewriting the Bible.  It is my humble attempt to help reconcile what many Christians today believe with the Bible they say they believe.  I mean, sure, we could believe what the Bible actually says, but come on, that’s just too difficult and this is way easier on everybody.  Maybe not in the long run, but it’ll feel good for now.

So without further ado, here we go with the first installment: The Good Samaritan, picking up in Luke 10:30, after Jesus was asked what it means to love your neighbor:

In reply, Jesus said, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

“Now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he had compassion on him and quickly moved on to the next town.  There in the next town he contacted the local Roman governor and began lobbying for more protection along that road, specifically centurions to make that place safe again, retelling the story of the man by changing it slightly to a young girl, twisting the truth and testimony just enough for effect.

“The Samaritan then lobbied the Senate to raise taxes to enact a community renovation project for the dangerous part of the road.  The Samaritan made many fine speeches and blamed business leaders and merchants and their greedy, unfair trade for fostering an environment which drove people to become robbers and thieves.

“So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

And they answered, “He who made the poor a political cause.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Go and do likewise.”

Peace.