Yet I am saying to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who are persecuting you
Matthews Account 5: 44, Concordant New Testament Translation
Have you ever thought of Jesus as anything more than your Lord and savior? While we would be correct in proclaiming this, we should also recognize that Jesus was indeed considered a radical teacher during His ministry. Many of the Jews of His day had the idea that the coming Messiah would be a leader who would lead the nation of Israel to victory over their hated Roman occupiers. Never once did they consider that God would desire them to pray for these same Romans. That is, until Jesus came along and shocked the social norms of the Jewish society. The idea of praying for ones enemies was a foreign concept to the tradition based Jewish leadership. In their view, "An eye for an eye" was the best response to someone who had wronged you. The radical teaching of Jesus tells us not to exact an eye for an eye, but "Anyone who slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also" {Mattews Account 5:39}. It's understandable that there were indeed those who despised Jesus for His radical teachings, the Jewish Pharisees among them. It was these religious leaders who clung to the traditions of the Torah in verse, but not in practice. All too often, you could see these men in public openly going against the traditions they taught. They seldom practiced what they preached to others. Jesus, on the other hand, definitely exemplified that which He taught. In fact, many of the modern church teachings of love, non-violence and humility come straight from the teachings and words of Jesus. But how is it that these words of Jesus could be considered to be radical? Well, because Jesus spoke against what were considered to be the social norms of His day. For their part, the Pharisees challenged Him at every turn. These Jewish leaders wanted more than anything to keep things the way that they were. They despised this radical street preacher from Nazareth coming into their arena to upset the apple cart so to say. In fact, we hear Nathaniel inquiring of Philip, "Can anything good be out of Nazareth?" {Johns Account 1:46}. So, here we have One from the hillbilly town of Nazareth speaking a message no one had ever heard before. The very definition of a radical.
So, what is it that we can learn from these radical teachings of Jesus? Remember, it is for His radical teachings that the Jewish religious leaders had Him crucified. These days, many embrace the so called radical teachings of this man from Nazareth. We understand that love, humility and grace are not radical at all, but what the Father desires for us. Yet there continue to be a few of the teachings of Jesus that we continue to see as radical in nature, inclusivity being one of them. While left wing pundits today rage for inclusivity, it is the apostle Paul who speaks of the very definition of the word. In his evangel, Paul speaks to the truth that "In Whom there is no Jew nor yet Greek, there is no slave nor yet free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" {Paul to the Galatians 3:28}. While the debate today rages against gender equality, it is Paul who refused to group the Lords creation into gender identification. The truth we find in Jesus is that we are all one with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}. Of course, the Jewish authorities despised Jesus for His blasphemous words that "I and the Father, We are one" {Johns Account 10:30}. Even today, many believers scoff at the idea that sinful man could ever be one with Jesus. When I speak this truth of Jesus to others, I become the radical. I guess I'm in good company. In many ways, the same religious norms which Jesus spoke against in His ministry are still with us today. The religious hierarchies, the traditional requirements and the expectation that believers adhere to them. But what did the radical teachings of Jesus tell us about how we worship the Father? Not by recognizing and practicing religious traditions, but something radical indeed. For Jesus speaks to the woman He encountered at the well that "God is spirit, and those who are worshipping Him must be worshipping in spirit and truth" {Johns Account 4:24}. "For the Father also is seeking such to be worshipping Him" {Johns Account 4:23}. What does these radical words of Jesus tell us about how we worship today? Well, like the Pharisees before them, I'm sure that it would make more than a few pastors nervous. No church? No praise and worship music? No tithing? Blasphemy! And that, is the radical Jesus.
But coming is the hour, and now is, when the true worshippers will be worshipping the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also is seeking such to be worshipping Him. God is spirit, and those who are worshipping Him must be worshipping in spirit and truth
Johns Account 4: 23-24, Concordant New Testament Translation
~Scott~
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