On Matthew 6:16 through 6:18

Welcome back to The Moral Vision of Jesus Christ, an ongoing study of the Gospels of Jesus Christ.

Recall that, last we met, I talked about some of the circumstances in my life that had led me away from this study for a period of time, and about how this study might be altered somewhat to suit evolving needs.  Today, we'll read some more of the Gospel, and I'll riff a little on the purpose of this study.

Please know that I love what I was doing with this before, and, if I had all of the time in the world, I would continue doing just that.  I love the textual analysis and the deep historical dives.  I love the Koine Greek stuff, and the Apocrypha, and Jerusalem.  I love ancient Rome, Indo-European, and listing the irreconcilable differences between John and The Synoptics.  I love all of that dearly.  Someday, maybe, life will afford me with unlimited free-time, and a purpose-built library/research-center.  Until that time, I think I'm going to have to throttle the depth of this study some.

Hang with me while I figure out what that will look like, exactly.  I'm winging it.

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Matthew 6:16 through 6:18

16 “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 

17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 

18 so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

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The point of this work has always been to ascertain the morality of Jesus Christ through honest textual analysis of the Gospel, and then to contrast that morality with the morality of modern American "Christians" in an effort to help reform their oft grossly deformed mentalities and world-views.  As I've recently alluded to, this can probably be done at a far faster rate than the one we've been working at thus far.

Interestingly enough, a huge percentage of what can be suspected about the moral philosophy of the historical Jesus Christ appears in the first pages of the first Gospel.  Indeed, this Sermon on the Mount we've been reading in Matthew, which constitutes only a small fraction of the entirety of the Gospel, will provide us with more of the raw moral data we seek than any other section or number of sections of the Gospel text combined.  This means that we've actually already covered a large percentage of the most important ground we will ever cover in the course of this study.  

The point is that our greatest feat may already have been long since accomplished here.  In fact, I would now contend that our greatest feat could be accomplished by anyone at any time by simply reading Matt chapters 5-7 several times over.  

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to see that there are glaring and nearly universal incongruities between the behaviors and professed beliefs of the average modern American "Christian" and the prescribed morality of Jesus Christ.  If that has been my point, then I've overdone myself by a factor of a whole heck of a lot, here.  All it ever took was an honest glance at Matt chapters 5-7.

I might affect more in society by firing up my laser-jet and printing thousands of copies of the Sermon on the Mount and just putting them under windshield wipers and on cork boards throughout the city.  I've come to realize that my commentary and analytical prying in this forum certainly aren't augmenting the Christian message in any way.

I'll keep my analysis to a minimum today, then, by saying just this: the fact that Jesus expected fasting to be a part of his followers' spiritual practice indicates to me, again, that he was not interested in the things of this earth.  Jesus never says "the focus of your life should be the accumulation of wealth, property, or capital."  Jesus never says "this life is meant to be one unending feast of consumer delights."  He tells his people "there is meaning and power to be found in shunning the comforts of this world."  On top of reminding us to shun the comforts of the world, today's passages remind us again that Jesus doesn't want us to do good in order to gain the approval of others.  An action performed for the sight of others cannot be moral.  Jesus doesn't appreciate virtue-signaling.

And that's it.

Join us next time.

Love.

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To read what came prior to this, click here.

On Matthew 6:14 through 6:15

Welcome back to The Moral Vision of Jesus Christ!

I've left you for a long time.  I know.  I feel guilty on a daily basis when I consider the fact that I haven't written here in so long.  I would understand if you were mad.

I stopped writing because my father was very ill, and he happened to be the one-man-audience I was writing this study for.  A little over a year ago we almost lost him, and his condition through 2020 was "touch-and-go" at best as we waited and prayed about his health.  It was my related depression that caused me to stop writing.  On December 3, my father passed away as my mother, my sister, and I held onto his weathered body.

It's weird, but I've realized of late that my father was the one-man-audience not only for this study, but for my intellect, and, in a way, for my every action.  I never really cared what anyone else thought in this world, and I still don't, but my father's opinion sure was important to me.  My father's mind and heart and soul sure were important to me...

In the wake of his death, I've become privy, to a greater degree, to my own mortality.  When you watch the breath go out of the man that put you on this earth, it doesn't just "change" part of you.  Or, that's not how it worked for me...

No, watching your father die doesn't change part of you.  It annihilates part of you.  If my ego was a planet in that moment, my father's death was an asteroid hitting it with the force of a trillion nuclear warheads.  Planet Ego ain't even shaped the same anymore, folks, and I've been wandering around since that moment in a daze, wondering who I am...

I don't know who I'm going to write this study for now, but I woke up today feeling like I should start this project moving again.

You know what... disregard that sentiment.  I know who I'm writing this for.  Even still.

I love you, dad.

Here's what's next in our study.

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Matthew 6:14 through 6:15

14 If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 

15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

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It's possible I've been overcomplicating things here, as far as Jesus goes.  Before we talk about today's reading, let's talk about my general approach in this study.

If you've been with me so far on this project, you know that we have advanced through the Gospel at perhaps the slowest possible rate.  My intention has been to create such a detailed study of the Gospel that I cannot possibly be argued with when it comes to the life of Jesus Christ.  The more nuance and detail, the better, right?  That's why we've spent so much time exploring the ancient Greek, the First-Century historical context, the ancient Jewish context, and all this other minutiae.  

As it turns out, though, the average American "Christian" is not interested in the least to know about the linguistics behind the Gospel.  They are not interested to know about the First-Century historical context.  They are not interested to know that Judaism was never a monolith, and that Jewish belief was as diverse in First-Century Palestine as Christian belief is today.  They literally do not care about any of that.

This fact became really pronounced when I briefly joined an online "Bible-in-a-Year" study group last year.  Only a few days in, the group basically told me that my questions and anecdotes about context and linguistics were unwelcome, and that I was reading the Bible wrong.  I shouldn't study it like the ancient text that it is, they said.  

I guess the American lack of interest in the nuance and detail of the Gospel should have been obvious to me...

Of course the average American "Christian" is not interested in using Jesus Christ as a moral guide, a philosophical leader, or a standard of behavior.  The average American "Christian" literally doesn't know and doesn't care what Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount.  The average American "Christian" is only interested in using Jesus as a self-soothing salve, a balm to rub onto one's mind whenever one has doubt about oneself.  Jesus is just "a god on their side," justifying their every action and desire, the same way Jupiter was a god on the side of the Romans, justifying everything they did.

To the American "Christian," modern American circumstance defines morality, not the Gospel.  Jesus' words must either align with modern American conservativism, or be ignored altogether.  

If Jesus says "do not kill," but modern American morality says "the death penalty is good," the American "Christian" will negate Jesus' ethic in defense of the modern American one.  

If Jesus says "you cannot worship God and mammon," but modern American morality says "conspicuous consumption is a societal ideal," the American "Christian" will toss a strip of duct-tape over Christ's mouth and call their stock-broker.  

If Jesus says "if you forgive others, God will forgive you," but modern American morality says "vengeance is ours," the American "Christian" will snap back at Jesus to "sit down and shut up" as they enact their retribution.

So now I guess I'm thinking that, since the modern American "Christian" isn't going to take interest in any of this nuance and detail anyway, maybe I would be better off jettisoning some of it.  At the very least, this would make this writing more time-efficient for me.

If I forewent all the nuance for today's reading, then, what would our study look like?  

I guess that, without all the supplemental research, we're just left with the words of the evangelist, and our own hearts to tell us if the words ring true or not...

Our reading today rings true to my heart.

"If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."

It's so easy to understand.  Just pure moral data.  It rings true to my heart.  How about you?

Forgiveness is an ideal.  To bear a grudge is abhorrent.  Jesus said so.  And maybe that's saying enough, here.

I don't know what form this study is going to take going forward, but I promise that I'm not done here yet.  If you want to talk about Jesus, I hope you'll reach out to me.  Until next time, happy studies.

Love.

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To read what came prior to this, click here.