According to the teachings of Islam. The Qur’an is the actual words of Allah, that were dictated to the Prophet Mohammad. Therefore, the Qur’an is the very word of Allah, without Mohammad’s editorials, input, or personality. This is the teaching of Islam.

The words of Allah are extremely important to understanding the character of the person of Allah. What is he like? What does he like? What does he dislike? This information tells us about a person and their character.

• ► For example, I like to work in the yard or grow Japanese Maples. I also like to study and learn religious doctrine, bible, faith, culture, etc.

As you learn these things you apply them to me in understanding me. The more details you know about an individual, the better you can tell what his character is.
With this context in place we may take the actual words of Allah and study them to find out who Allah is and what his character is.

• Qur’an 9:5 “When the sacred forbidden months for fighting are past, fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, torture them, and lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.”

• Qur’an 8:12 “Your Lord inspired the angels with the message: ‘I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. Strike off their heads and cut off each of their fingers and toes.”

• Qur’an 2:191 “And kill them wherever you find and catch them. Drive them out from where they have turned you out; for Al-Fitnah (polytheism, disbelief, oppression) is worse than slaughter.”

This sounds like what the believers in Al queda are doing; this is also what is occurring in Darfur region of Sudan. These groups are simply following the directions of Allah. We should not call them “extremists” for following so closely the commands of their lord (Allah).
We learn important details about Allah when we study and consider his words.

Here is another example, but from the Bible: This is Jesus Christ answering the “dark religion” of the Jewish Pharisees.

• John 8:44 “For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Compare Jesus’ words to Allah’s in the passages below from the Muslim’s holy book.

• Qur’an 4:142 “Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah. He shall retaliate by deceiving them.”

• Qur’an 5:41 “Whomever Allah wants to deceive you cannot help. Allah does not want them to know the truth because he intends to disgrace them and then torture them.”

I think that we must actually study Qur’an for the purpose of helping our Muslim friends and neighbors to compare Jesus to Allah. I am not being disrespectful and I believe that when we are disrespectful and condemnatory toward our fellowman, then we have destroyed all chance for communication and rescue.
We (disciples of Jesus) must not follow worldly directives that teach us to hate, kill, and label our “brothers” and “sisters” as barbaric or monstrous.
As stated in the posting from Thursday October 19, Jesus never calls his disciples to fight our fellowman.

• ► Luke 6:27 But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.

• ► Luke 6:35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked.

The enemy who we are to fight, in the scriptures, is quite clearly identified as Satan and his demons.

• ► 1 Peter 5:8 Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.

• ► Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

The citations above are not unique, but it will make clear, the difference in the Islamic path to Allah and the Christian path to Yahweh.

• ► John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The same thing that is outlined above about how we must study the words and deeds of Allah in order to know who he is and what his character is, should be applied also to Jesus Christ . What did he tell us to do?

• ► John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another? By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus gives us a very simple measuring stick to know if a person is a Christian. This is not difficult to understand, if there is a “dark side” to this then, Jesus states quite clearly, that the “dark side” it is not what He taught. If someone says that Jesus is only speaking about loving fellow Christians then they have likely forgotten what Jesus said in Luke 6.

• ► Lk 6:27ff “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you.”

The contrast between Jesus words and deeds and that of Allah is not arguable. There is no dark side to Jesus. Anyone who claims to follow Jesus and …well, doesn’t follow Jesus is not … well, a follower of Jesus.

DSM

Some of my faith opinions are still in flux. In other words there is some circumstantial data that is in harmony with my “fringe” opinions, but my conclusions are, to some degree, a willing “leap of faith”. This is true for just a few of my beliefs.

Nevertheless, all opinions are a mixture of bias and knowledge.

Also, there is so much to my belief, that I will not be able to include everything; otherwise it would be a very long and boring autobiography.

These are the questions that I will address.

* A. Why do I believe in a Creator of the universe?
* B. Why do I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the actively creative power of this Creator?
* C. Why do I believe that this Creator is the inspiration behind the scriptures?
* D. And, why do I believe that the Church is the body and Bride of Jesus the Creator?

I have focused the question by the modifications above. I think that our answers become more apparent, when our questions become less ambiguous.

ANSWER FOR ITEM “A”

The issue of “Does God Exist?” was a problematic one, in my early adult life, i.e. Age 18 to Age 21. There were some ancillary issues (which are of a personal nature that I won’t include here) that affected my ability to accept “belief.” I have used the term “belief” and not “belief in God”, with intent, which you will see as this answer develops in a later post.

Things that I began to observe in the world, appeared to be out-of-step with what I had been taught by my parents, bible teachers, preachers, etc. And it finally culminated in my 1st freshmen year at Oklahoma Christian College, in the fall and spring of 1983-84. I was in a class that challenged me on my “Belief in God.”
“Genesis”, which was taught by a respected Bible professor and PHD at OC, ironically, challenged my belief in God. Very quickly into the course, the 2nd week, as I recall, we got to Genesis 3. This is the fall of Adam and Eve.

I raised my hand and asked the professor the question, “Did God create the devil?” I thought it was a valid question. Incidentally, I still think it is valid, but I now have the answer that is sufficient to me. (I will give my answer to this at a later date. I believe that this answer is a part of Matt’s “etc.” from his question quoted above.)

We had studied the “creation” episode in the preceding week. But, in Genesis 3:1, we were looking “eye-to-eye” with a talking serpent. The professor gave only a very cursory answer, that I will paraphrase from recollection; ‘Yes, God created all things…, but I don’t have time to go off on “a wild goose-chase.”’

It was my opinion, at that moment, that he had perceived my question as an insolent attempt to divert the focus of his lecture.

And, now that I am 23 years removed from my passions of that morning, I must admit that I was, indeed, a very cheeky college student. And, that I may have, in-fact, been acting mischievous by asking the question to him, in the fashion that I did.
What self-respecting college student wouldn’t take an opportunity to ask an “honest and legitimate” question, which has as an added benefit of pinning the shoulders of an “Ivory Tower” professor to the floor?

I could even feign an indignant offense and by doing so, take the desired excuse for abandoning my faith.

After all there was a “fun” social function coming up in a couple of weeks with a sister club. Hey, if Dr. Blah,Blah can’t answer a simple question about the origin of the devil, then the answer is obvious, right? God, doesn’t exist? And “Come on guys, let’ parrrrrrty!”

It was a very useful Ad Hominem and it opened up my social calendar quite well.

I subsequently dropped out of college that semester, so that I could fully devote myself to hedonism, which had become my new religion.

However, I had not truly abandoned all my knowledge of the bible, which was something that always caused an irritation to my moral conscience, even as I went about my apostate ways.

I won’t go into the dark period of half-life. But, suffice it to say that I awakened one day.

I think it happened when I found my bible in the trunk of my car. There was a lot of symbolism in this storage of what had been a High School graduation gift from the congregation where I’d grown up. The symbolism did not go unnoticed by me. It was a cold shower and demanded that I take a decision on where I was headed. I should either throw away this moldy old book and get on with my life, such as it was, or I should take some serious time restoring the book to a readable condition.

I decided to go the restoration route. The bible had slipped into the lowest part of the trunk, in the fender well. There it got wet from water that seeped up from the drain plug that was in that low area. Each and every page had fused to its neighboring pages. So, the effort to get the pages open was quite time consuming.

But, the pragmatic answer of just disposing of the book and getting a new one, begged the question; Why get a new one? If I don’t care enough about this one that was a gift. I managed to open the bible and I keep it on a prominent bookcase in my living room. It is still misshapen and most of the pages are discolored by mold and water stains. But, it still has the power of life for a seeking heart. And it reminds me of where I have been.

Following my apostasy, a phase that lasted two years, I went back to college and enrolled in a course that had the opposite affect. This course too, was a profound irony.

“Cellular Biology” truly acted as an anchor to my belief in God.
It is one of those ‘paradoxes/paradice’ that this blog highlights.

* I found reason to leave my faith by studying Genesis.

* I found reason to confirm my faith by studying Science, life sciences in-fact; the home of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”.

God loves teaching us through and by means that are topsy-turvy, upside down and backwards.

This fact is among my personal favorites, for an individual rationale to belief in all of the above questions.

The way that God does things is “foolish” to carnal thinking. But, yet it is logical and orderly in an inexplicable way.

Who hasn’t heard the cliché, “God works in mysterious ways.”? This phrase is a testimony to the fact that there is this “ethereal order” to life that refuses to comport to standard conventions (a.k.a. common sense). Don’t tell me that God expects his people to use “common sense.” God not only doesn’t expect this but he has commanded us to not use “common sense.”

* Luke 6: 27 “But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do for others as you would like them to do for you.

Which of these is “common sense?”

DSM

A different interpretation of the “Rich Young Ruler.”

Mt 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Is he eternally lost?
Did he die in his sins?

Many folks will tell me that this fellow is lost.
Many folks will say that Jesus has condemned all rich people.
But, I differ fundamentally with the faulty hermeneutics used to put this stake through the souls of so many people.
Look again, at the the passage about the Rich young ruler. Verse 22 says that he went away sorrowful or “sad” because he had great wealth.

Is he sad because he’s rich?
This is not the typical response to having great wealth. Is it?

‘John Doe wins the multi-million dollar lotto, so he goes away sad because he has excessive wealth.’
You just don’t hear this.
My take on this passage is that, the rich man recognizes his deep Spiritual need. In-fact this exchange is the same in all of the synoptic gospel accounts. The man asks Jesus what “he” personally, must do to have eternal life. So, the fellow has a recognition of his need.

Consider this in the context of Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The young ruler meets this criterion by simply asking the question of Jesus.

Look further, Mt 5:4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The young ruler meets this criterion by going away “sad”. He was not sad because he was rich, but rather, because he knew that there was “one thing” that was coming between himself and God.

Jesus has good news for people who are able to recognize such a sad personal state of affairs, “They will be comforted.”

Look at Mt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This young man appears to be getting a lot of good news (gospel) from Christ. The rich man clearly, has a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness, because after Jesus tells him a list of things, which he had followed “religiously” the young man didn’t celebrate and hoop-it-up, but instead he recognized he was still lacking something.

This issue could be expanded further by talking about the impossibility of any rich man’s salvation…on his own merits, versus any rich man’s salvation on God’s merits. But, I am hoping you are getting the idea by now, that this young man met Jesus’ stated criteria for being blessed in Mt 5.

Okay, if you still follow me on this. And if you too have felt “sad” that you have not achieved God’s level of excellence, then I am also hoping that you might recognize that your very deep and earnest desire for perfection is the exact same thing to Christ from Mt 5. If you didn’t care, then there would be a problem. But, that’s not the case. The only thing lacking for you, is the answer to yourself of some important questions:

1. Just How Powerful is this Jesus?
2. Is he really able to forgive anything?
3. Can he heal me, personally, for any & all faults?
4. Can He create, in me, a holy and sanctified soul? Despite my failings.

Don’t forget that Jesus can identify with your loss.

Mt 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Is he eternally lost?

Did he die in his sins?

Many folks will tell me that this fellow is lost.
Many folks will say that Jesus has condemned all rich people.
But, I differ fundamentally with the faulty hermeneutics used to put this stake through the souls of so many people.
Look again, at the the passage about the Rich young ruler. Verse 22 says that he went away sorrowful or “sad” because he had great wealth.

Is he sad because he’s rich?
This is not the typical response to having great wealth. Is it?

‘John Doe wins the multi-million dollar lotto, so he goes away sad because he has excessive wealth.’
You just don’t hear this.
My take on this passage is that, the rich man recognizes his deep Spiritual need. In-fact this exchange is the same in all of the synoptic gospel accounts. The man asks Jesus what “he” personally, must do to have eternal life. So, the fellow has a recognition of his need.

Consider this in the context of Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The young ruler meets this criterion by simply asking the question of Jesus.

Look further, Mt 5:4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The young ruler meets this criterion by going away “sad”. He was not sad because he was rich, but rather, because he knew that there was “one thing” that was coming between himself and God.

Jesus has good news for people who are able to recognize such a sad personal state of affairs, “They will be comforted.”

Look at Mt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This young man appears to be getting a lot of good news (gospel) from Christ. The rich man clearly, has a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness, because after Jesus tells him a list of things, which he had followed “religiously” the young man didn’t celebrate and hoop-it-up, but instead he recognized he was still lacking something.

This issue could be expanded further by talking about the impossibility of any rich man’s salvation…on his own merits, versus any rich man’s salvation on God’s merits. But, I am hoping you are getting the idea by now, that this young man met Jesus’ stated criteria for being blessed in Mt 5.

Okay, if you still follow me on this. And if you too have felt “sad” that you have not achieved God’s level of excellence, then I am also hoping that you might recognize that your very deep and earnest desire for perfection is the exact same thing to Christ from Mt 5. If you didn’t care, then there would be a problem. But, that’s not the case. The only thing lacking for you, is the answer to yourself of some important questions:

1. Just How Powerful is this Jesus?
2. Is he really able to forgive anything?
3. Can he heal me, personally, for any & all faults?
4. Can He create, in me, a holy and sanctified soul? Despite my failings.

God bless,
DSM

To: Bigdaddy and Pilgrim
Thank you for responding to the exercise, of which I am including the questions at the bottom of this post as well.
Also, I will give some background for the questions, as is appropriate.

I should say that I was intentionally provocative with the title and the questions for this post.
The provocation was more to engage thought than to be critical.
Also, I know that the questions are open-ended and vague, thus resulting in some “ricochet” directional variations. That’s okay too.
However, the underlying point, that I had hoped to open to critical thinking, involves self-sacrifice for the benefit of others, without any “carnal” benefit to oneself.

So, the issue of using “common-sense” to tie your shoes is valid, but what happens if we change the dynamic a little bit.

Maybe, we could instead tie a stranger’s shoes, so that they will not trip and fall.
The Lord did take just such an opportunity to give his disciples, (us), an example of uncommon-sense, when He washed the feet of the disciples.
We must not forget this example. It applies to everything we do, as disciples of His.
We must read John 13:1-17 and answer for ourselves what it means when the Lord told the disciples, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
This statement is in the context of foot washing. But, does it only apply to foot washing, or does it even, ultimately, apply to foot washing?
• 15, I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
• 16, How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them.
• 17, You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.

To my understanding of verse sixteen, Jesus is appears to be making a manifest claim to be “master” and “sender of the messengers.” This follows the context and the relationship of teacher to student.
However, in our, now post crucifixion, perspective, we have a more complete context of what Jesus actually intended by this example and His teaching to the disciples. Because, in verse one, John tells us “Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love.”
This refers to Jesus’ death on the cross, not only Christ’s foot washing event.
It would be almost sardonic to say that Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice was washing a bunch of dirty feet.

Therefore, the foot washing that happens, is not separate from the death on the cross. The foot washing ceremony is intended to, graphically, highlight the fact that Jesus’ disciples will be expected to respond to their fellow man, in exactly the same selfless manner as Jesus Christ.
Hence, Jesus’ reminds the disciples of the appropriate hierarchy, i.e. Master is superior to servant and Message Sender is superior to message carrier.
In other words, Jesus tells us;
• ‘I am Master and I am the Message Sender.’
• ‘Do you see what I do for my slaves and couriers?’
• ‘Do you see that I wash their feet?’
• ‘Do you see that I lay down my life for them?’
• ‘Therefore Peter, you should not think that you are too important or too superior, and thus hand off the menial tasks of foot washing and life sacrifice’
• ‘God’s servants are exact images of God, in every detail and every drop of self-sacrificed blood.’

Bigdaddy, in your answer to “Q2: Is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples? yes–He alone could die for our sins”, I understand the point that you make and I concede that it was true.
Yet, when we receive Jesus’ Holy Spirit, we are no longer ourselves alone. We become Christian, i.e. we become Christ to the world.
• We are holy, as Jesus is holy.
• We become “participants of the divine nature”, according to 2Peter 1:4.
• We have the opportunity to glorify the Holy Father in the same way that Jesus Christ brought glory the Father.
• We may show uncommon faith in the Father’s ability to carry us through self-sacrifice for our fellow man.
• We may show hope in resurrection to a new life.
• We may deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him.

You see, I don’t see myself as carnal any longer.
I look at the carnal man on the cross everyday. The carnal man who worries about getting ahead in a “dog eat dog world” is put back on the cross everyday. This leaves me sinless. This puts me in a confident position, so confident in-fact, that I may sacrifice my own life to save the life of him, who may be my enemy, just like Jesus did for me (Romans 5:10).
I am exactly like Jesus, by God’s inexplicable grace.

My point is that while Jesus could only offer Himself for me, prior to my cleansing, I now am recreated in His image, thus giving me the privilege of offering myself for others and completing the exhortation from John 13:17, which is, according to our Lord, the “path of blessing.”

God bless,
DSM
p.s. My answers, to the previously posed questions, follow below, so please continue to read, it is important to understand my reasons for the questions, which I’ve stated above, as well as my answers to the questions, which will follow. dsm

1. Do you believe that Jesus is the “example” for all humankind? Yes, I suspect that most Christians will agree that Jesus is the perfect example for humanity. But, this also creates difficulties with our spiritual/carnal filter. For example: What actions, from within Jesus’ life example, may we exclude from ourselves or from teaching other disciples.
2. If you say “yes”; is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples? Pilgrim, I believe that you have hit the target, squarely, in the “X ring”. Your answer also addresses the point that I make above to Bigdaddy’s answer for this question. Because, while Jesus tells Peter that he may not come to the cross at that time, He forewarns Simon that a day will come for him to do the same thing, i.e. he will be called on to sacrifice himself for the church. Most are familiar with the historical legend of Peter’s own crucifixion.
3. Who is a “disciple” of Jesus? I agree with both answers. Interestingly, to Pilgrim’s answer, we see, in Acts 19:1-7, that Luke calls disciples, 12 men who had not be baptized into Christ. However, the lesson of discipleship continues, because the 12 men are baptized in the the name of the Lord Jesus upon hearing about, what was an heretofore missing component of their belief.
4. Do you think of yourself as a disciple? The answer to this question is almost reflexive for all who call themselves “Christian.” But, it is my opinion that discipleship holds requisite conditions that are not present in many who feel as if, they are indeed “disciples.” (Again I say LOUDLY, “THIS IS MY OPINION”) The conditions that I see for discipleship are, in the following specified chronological order; 1st) A Seeker of God, 2nd) An Acceptor of Truth, 3rd) A Follower/student of Jesus, 4th) An Employer of knowledge & example. The 12 men of Acts 19:1-7 as well as Apollos from Acts 18:24-28, meet these criteria for discipleship. They were seekers of God, they accepted truth, they followed the way of Jesus, and finally they employed their acquired knowledge, by acting on their faith, via baptism into the name of Jesus Christ.
5. Does the Father expect disciples of Jesus to use “common sense”? With this question I am dealing with personal demons. As you’ve read above, this goes to the issue of “carnal-sense” or simply doing what is expedient without regard to Jesus’ self-sacrifice and the most visible defining characteristic of His disciples, as stated by the Lord Himself in John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Jesus is not limiting this love to fellow “Christians”. Remember He has already given the Sermon on the Mount, where He tells us, in Matthew 5:43ff “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”
6. Did Jesus use common sense in any part of His incarnation, ministry, and sacrifice? Without going too much further, you now understand what my thinking is concerning “common-sense”. I use the term, because I have heard this phrase many times, when people desire cover for their giving into fear and rage, and in contravention of Jesus’ obvious teachings, both in His words and in His deeds. I won’t confess here what my greatest fears are, but suffice it to say that I am praying daily for courage and strength to say “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” My fears have motivated me to hide my gifts. I have buried them and have not invested them. I have honored the one who encourages me to fear and hate, instead of the One who promises me, that He will keep that which I’ve committed to Him, but only that I show courage and love.
7. Can you cite the examples of Jesus, using “good judgment”? Jesus didn’t turn the stone to bread, He didn’t throw Himself down in a test of the Father protection and He did not worship the “prince of the earth & air”, all of which would have been expedient by worldly carnal-judgment.
8. Was His, giving up the throne of heaven and being born as a helpless baby to an unmarried mother, “good judgment”? Pilgrim, Paul states that Jesus did have this decision to take and therefore it was His prerogative to decline. Look at Philippians 2:5-11 “5) Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6) Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7) He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. 9) Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11) and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Pilgrim and Bigdaddy, you are correct about Mary and Joseph, but the stigma of Mary being yet only betrothed, when she became pregnant was, by carnal standards, “unwise”.
9. Did Jesus use good judgment when he selected His band of apostles? Carnal judgment says that He should have picked big warrior class men, who had political connections and military training and experience.
10. Was God the Father using good judgment, when He placed His “only begotten Son” in Bethlehem under a narcissistic homicidal maniac, such as King Herod the Great?
11. Did the Lord use anything even close to “good common sense”, when He refused to answer the Jewish High priest and the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate? Good judgement (carnal) would get Him out of jail and silence the crowd, with no fuss and no mess.
12. In what way, can Jesus be said to be our “example”, if we, for our own carnal will & reasoning, seek to exclude all meaningful representations of the Father’s & Son’s love, mercy, and compassion, as being unique to Jesus’ ministry, and therefore, should not to be followed by His disciples? Men and women of God make compromises daily for why they should use “common sense” and not stop to help a stranded motorist. But, the example of Jesus says to stop and help. Godless men beat the Lord, yet He did not strike back. While Godly men and women seek preemptive strikes, to protect hearth and home. I hope to spur thought about when God’s example is a “bad example.”
13. I keep looking for the Lord to stand up and take matters into His hands and utterly crush the wickedness of humankind. But…, if He were to do the thing that I envision…, would I be swept away with all the other wickedness of humankind?
14. I wonder if there is any example in Jesus life, that the Father hopes that we will follow?
15. And I wonder if that example, might just be Jesus “in toto“?