Christ
is the greatest reformer of all times. And He calls us to be like Him. Be the
reformer. Be the change!.
Jews
are the people who follow tradition more strictly. They follow all things
literally without any reasoning. They don't think about the real meaning in it.
They were also very good in judging and condemning people who do not follow
them. Jesus living in such a community was very bold and didn't live a
normal life. He was the greatest reformer. He was the first to do many things
in such a community.
Having learnt all the scriptures he didn't
choose the learned like other Pharisees. But choose fishermen and tax
collectors who were rejected by the Pharisees and Scribes.
(Just imagine , you are going to start a
big business where you require disciplined people with more knowledge. Will you
choose fishermen for a change?)
(Scribes had knowledge of the law and could
draft legal documents (contracts for marriage, divorce, loans, inheritance,
mortgages, the sale of land, and the like). Every village had at least one
scribe. Pharisees were members of a party that believed in resurrection and in
following legal traditions that were ascribed not to the Bible but to “the
traditions of the fathers.”)
Below
are the reforms he teached,
You have heard that it was said
to those of old, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders will
be in danger of the judgment.'
But I say to you that whoever is
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Rascal!' shall be
in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!' shall be
in danger of hell fire.
Therefore if you
bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and
go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and
offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you
are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the
judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into
prison.
Assuredly, I say to
you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the
last penny
You have heard that it was said
to those of old, "You shall not commit adultery.'
But I say to you that whoever looks
at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in
his heart.
"You have heard that it was said,
"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
But I tell you not to resist an
evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the
other to him also
If anyone wants to sue you and
take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
And whoever compels you to go
one mile, go with him two
You have heard that it was said,
"You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.'
But I say to you, love your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;
for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the
same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than
others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
If you lend to those from whom you
hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend
to sinners to receive as much back
How are you living? Are you different from others in your good
deeds or just following the larger group who claim to live good lives.
When Jesus was 12yrs old, he was in the
temple sitting with the teachers listening to them and asking them questions.
How are we when we are 12yrs, do you sit with the professors to
know about more things?
First to love
sinners
Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and
sinners. He was even questioned by the Pharisees for his behavior. Look at how
Jesus answers ""Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,
to repentance."
Just imagine you going to the red light area and eating with
them. Will you dare to do such a thing to bring about a revolution?
Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to
eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to
eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew
that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an
alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind
Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped
them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed
them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who
had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This
Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman
this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus
answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to
you." So he said, "Teacher, say it." "There was a
certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii,
and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay,
he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them
will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I
suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him,
"You have rightly judged." Then He turned to the woman
and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house;
you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her
tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss,
but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came
in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed
My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins,
which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little
is forgiven, the same loves little." Then He said to her,
"Your sins are forgiven."
First to bring a
lot of changes in the Sabbath.
Now it happened that He went
through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His
disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said
to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on
the Sabbath?" But He said to them, "Have you
never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and
those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of
Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful
to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were
with him?" And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also
Lord of the Sabbath."
And He entered the synagogue
again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they
watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath,
so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had
the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them,
"Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save
life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around
at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He
said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched
it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
Jesus respected all
the women.
And
at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a
woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You
talking with her?"
The woman then left
her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
"Come, see a
Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Then they went out
of the city and came to Him.
Then the scribes and Pharisees
brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the
midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in
the very act Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.
But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have
something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the
ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued
asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin
among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down
and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their
conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.
And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had
raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman,
where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said,
"No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn
you; go and sin no more."
