The Hard Sayings of Jesus
2018년 9월 30일The gospels often depict the Pharisees as the “bad guys” who oppose Jesus. What did they do that was so bad or that angered Jesus so much? The Pharisees (the name means “separated ones”) prided themselves in obeying all 613 Commandments in the Bible. That isn’t bad in itself, except they believed this somehow made them better, holier, and more loved by God then other people who weren’t as successful in living according to God’s law. Using your piety to look down on others is a big No-No according to Jesus. In fact, Jesus saved his harshest words for those who used religion to oppress others.
So Jesus gave difficult Commandments that no one could possibly follow, as if to say, “You think you can to heaven just by obeying Commandments? Fine. Try these: if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” No one can do that. Therefore no one can obey all the Commandments. Does this mean no one gets to heaven? No! Because we cannot get to heaven on our own power, but only by the grace and mercy of God.
Put another way, we should never look down on other Catholics (or followers of other faiths, for that matter) because their religious practices are different than ours. We do not attend Mass, pray the rosary, do good to others and avoid sin to make God love us more. Rather we do these things in gratitude because we realize God already loves us. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. But God loves us anyway. This is the good news we should be eager to share with the world.