Easter musings

As today is Easter, I thought I should write something of a sermon. Now no matter whether you are religious or not (and for the record here my personal religious convictions are exactly that, personal), there does appear that Jesus was a historical person, and although there are no immediate accounts of his saying and teachings, those Greek and Hebrew texts closest to his life time quote him as saying along the lines of ...

we should be considerate and help the poor, the unfortunate, incarcerated and victimized....

For example: “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Mtt 24: 34-40) 

“But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.”  (Mtt 14: 16) 

... we should not be hypocritical  and he had a poor opinion of those people who proclaimed to be faithful their deeds show them to be not ...

“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” (Mtt 6:5) 

“Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Mtt 23:28) . 

He clearly wasn't a great fan of capitalism and money at all costs...

“And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” (J 2: 14-16) 

... in fact he was a bit of a commie hippy and extolled the rich giving their wealth to the poor ...

 “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.” (Mtt 19:24) 

(*BTW this is an infamous mistranslation - the earliest original texts say rope instead of camel - which makes a lot more sense, but goes to show that the bible is not infallible) 

“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (J 3:17) 

... and he was a proponent of universal free healthcare...

 “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” (Mtt 9: 35)

He didn't call for violence, in fact called for non-violence+ and diplomacy...

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Mtt 5: 9) 

(+There are some that argue that the passage in Luke (22:36) where he calls for his disciples to sell their cloaks and buy swords is a call for everyone to buy weapons (as is our God-given second amendment right), but 2 verses later he clearly says that two swords are enough and when his disciples attack a priest's slave (verse 50) he rapidly chastises them and promptly heals the slave (verse 51), which is clearly not the actions of a pro-weapon, pro-aggression person). 

He certainly didn't say anything about homosexuality being bad, or protesting about gay marriage, or generally being a hateful bigot. In fact quite the opposite, he said that you should not be judgmental and you should be good to everyone equally.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Mtt 7: 1-2)

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Mtt 28: 39) 

So if Jesus was around now what would he think of the world? Particularly those who claim themselves to be Christian and working in his name, yet argue against free healthcare, welfare, fair treatment and rights of prisoners, who bolster the rich and wealthy to become even more so, while others are close to, and declining into poverty. The level of economic equality in the US is currently greater than the differences between the rich and poor in Regency England - we live in a time of large numbers of poor and a small super wealthy elite to are increasing disenfranchising the less wealthy majority. So what would Jesus do? Seriously... think about it...

But anyway, for those of your that celebrate Easter have a good holiday and don't eat too much chocolate and always remember to always look on the bright side of life...