IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 935

ON LOVE; PART DXXIV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).

In the last essay we left off with the Master’s words on forsaking from the synoptic gospels; first the story of the Master and the rich young man, or ruler as we read in Luke’s Gospel, who is told to “sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor” (Luke 18:22) and to follow the Master. Here we should see from the interview that this man has kept the commandments and one should assume that he did so from the heart as the Master teaches because Jesus tells him that there IS “One thing thou lackest” (Mark 10:21) or, as Matthew says this “If thou wilt be perfect” (Matthew 19:21). We should remember that this IS a story told for its effect, that there ARE differences in the versions from the apostles and tht there IS likely more interaction between the rich man and the Master than the few words that we have. And we should remember as well that the man comes to Jesus asking “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) but the Master’s answer is in terms of the Kingdom of God saying that if he can forsake ALL that he shall “have treasure in heaven“. Perhaps here is the first of the more parabolic pronouncements that the Master offers as there ARE NO defining words for just what this “treasure in heaven” might be, which for us IS the Kingdom itself. We can relate this to that saying from the Apostle Paul that we discussed a few days back saying “we have this treasure in earthen vessels” which relates back to that divine Light of God of which the apostle tells us He had “shined in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). For us this is the God Within and, when we are so focused, this IS the activity of the God Within or the Holy Spirit which corresponds with our chart below.

We previously discussed some of the commentary on this story (In the Words of Jesus part 912) where we see the deflection of this from being a hint at the forsaking as the way to the Kingdom for ALL and the centering of this on this particular man alone. This however IS NOT the case as the lessons are clearly for ALL as the Master continues to speak after the rich man had left their company as we read: “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 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” (Mark 10:23-26). This is the most complete set of ideas from the gospels and here the Master qualifies His remark about the rich and the Kingdom by adding the idea of trust; saying “how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! “. This thought is not offered by Matthew and Luke and many use this to deflect from the certainty of the previous saying and accepting the idea of having riches so long as one does not trust in them. However, this IS not the Master’s point and the difficulty remains from the prior saying; the repeating of this in these terms IS more likely intended to expand the first and not limit it, perhaps saying to those that do not have such riches that even to trust in them will make attaining the Kingdom difficult.

Another hope of deflection from one’s accepting this as the Truth, that the Kingdom and riches are incompatible, is found in the Master’s next words that show the analogy of the camel and the eye of the needle and while so many try to rationalize this idea by taking it to mean other things such a “cable rope” or some idea that the needle is really a gate into the city which was perhaps too low for the camel to go through and must be unburdened to enter. The reality however remains; that “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“. And there is yet another place where some doctrine and attitudes try to deflect the idea of forsaking as found in these sayings by the Master; the disciples “were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? ” (Mark 10:25-26). Here the astonishment at this True thought  is felt by His disciples who had already given up all as we read farther on; here they are likely astonished by the blunt nature of His comments and perhaps their own understanding that the whole nature of being rich IS a purely personal thing that works on a very movable scale as we have previously discussed. The common understanding of rich is limited to those who have much abundance but even in this limitation there are great ranges which we can see in a man who has much more than he needs; we should see here that the man with a million dollars and the man who has a billion dollars both can be considered as rich. We can take this yet further; while the modern dictionary may not agree, the 1828 version of Webster’s does offer this definition which contains our idea of riches as a purely personal thing that works on a very movable scale. Webster’s tells us that:  Wealthy; opulent; possessing a large portion of land, goods or money, or a larger portion than is common to other men or to men of like rank. A farmer may be rich with property which would not make a nobleman rich. An annual income of 500 sterling pounds would make a rich vicar, but not a rich bishop. Men more willingly acknowledge others to be richer, than to be wiser than themselves ¹. In this view we can see the man in the ghetto who has the nice car and the big screen TV being seen as rich by those in his ‘rank’ who have less.

We should be able to understand here that even with rich meaning just wealth and possessions that it can affect the vast majority of men who feel good in comparison to their peers based in what they themselves may have and the greater reality here of those who may “trust in riches” is the tendency to ever want to have more and better. We should also note that this word that is rendered trust has more meaning than we would generally understand; Strong’s tells us that the Greek word peitho means: to convince, persuade; to trust in, have confidence in, be persuaded ³. In this is a meaning that IS closer to our view as we can read our saying as those who “are persuaded by riches” or event “those convinced” of their value in Life and this idea of persuaded is the more common rendering of this word. We should note here as well that several bible translations DO NOT include this idea of trust and this apparently because it is not found in some manuscripts; in these type of things we generally rely on Vincent to give us some input but here he is silent and does not include this verse in his word study. Nonetheless it IS in our King James Version and we do find a reality to its presence in the Master’s words a this idea DOES expand upon the previous saying rather than merely repeating it. While understanding the nature of riches can help us to understand the Master’s intent we should remember that this idea is much more inclusive that wealth and possessions and should be seen in the same way as we look at treasure; that this also IS more that riches and extends to every thing upon which one can put importance. This IS made clear in the next thoughts that the Master shares with His disciples but first, comes the Master’s answer to the disciple’s question as they ask “Who then can be saved? “.

As we say above this is yet another place from which men deflect the Truth of the Master’s words on riches and His answer leaves open the possibility that God will accept the rich man and there is likely some built in rationalization that includes conduct and tithing and giving liberally of one’s riches. This sense of deflection is based in the Master’s words that “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We do not see this rationalization as the reality of Jesus words as there is NO such allowance elsewhere in the New Testament and here we should understand that it IS each of us that judges his own worthiness; that there is no one who can pronounce one a disciple nor is there a one that calls men accounted worthy. These are purely personal revelations and realizations by the man who IS expressing the Love and the Power of the Soul through his Life in form and here we should try to see that if a man can focus completely on God and yet have riches, that he can be accounted worthy regardless of the riches. In this we should see the reason for the Master’s telling us that it IS difficult and not that this IS plainly impossible and perhaps an example today could be of a man of wealth who places his riches in a blind trust that distributes them to worldly needs while investing them for greater longevity. That this is right we DO NOT KNOW but we do KNOW that the Master does leave open a way. Hearing this the Apostle Peter asks: “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” (Matthew 19:27) and it is here that we find Master’s reality that the True idea of riches and that this idea of forsaking is greater than just wealth and possessions; He answer’s the apostle saying: “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).

Can we see the point that the Master makes here regarding the scope of what one forsakes and the scope of this idea of riches and of treasure as well? The idea of persecutions in this context is perplexing and it IS only offered by Mark who also goes into greater detail for the list itself. We should understand here the reality of the “treasure in heaven” from the earlier verse as well as from the Master’s words that speak of this in relation to the “treasures upon earth“; both ARE to be related to their ‘place’ in one’s heart; that we can treasure either one and the choice will be reflected in one’s Life. On this the Master tells us “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19, 21). And perhaps the meaning here of persecutions is for the man who Truly forsakes ALL and lives the Life of the disciple, that by his way and his attitude of Love and of peace, that he will be ridiculed for being different and for have forsaken those things that others hold so dear. The basic message here in these words to the rich young man and then to His disciples is one of forsaking and one that should be seen in the proper light of the Truth that the way to the Kingdom does per force include that the Kingdom and the things of God are the primary focus of the Life of the man and that ALL things of the world and ALL thoughts, attitudes and actions that pertain to the world must fade in importance and essentially disappear.

In the second part of our discussion on forsaking from the last essay the Master lays out these same ideas as a part of His words on discipleship in Luke’s Gospel and in regard to being worthy of Him in Matthew’s:

• “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38).
• “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33).

In Matthew’s words there can be no other Truth to this idea than that one IS worthy of ALL that IS Him and in this we must include His Kingdom. There ARE howeveer mixed ideas on this in commentary as we read:

• From the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible that: He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me–(Compare Deuteronomy 33:9 ). As the preference of the one would, in the case supposed, necessitate the abandonment of the other, our Lord here, with a sublime, yet awful self-respect, asserts His own claims to supreme affection ⁸. This idea of affection is misplaced and the reality of Love from this view should be that same Love that the Master teaches and which IS far beyond affection; it is qualified by His own words that tell us: “If a man love me, he will keep my words” (John 14:23).
• John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible takes a very different approach saying: is not worthy of me; or, as in Munster’s Hebrew Gospel, he is not (ytwal ywar) , “fit for me”: it is not fit and proper, that such a person should name the name of Christ, or be called by his name, and should be reckoned one of his disciples; he is not fit to be a member of the church of Christ on earth, nor for the kingdom of heaven, but deserves to be rejected by him, and everlastingly banished his presence: for otherwise no man, let him behave ever so well, is worthy of relation to Christ, and interest in him; or of his grace, righteousness, presence, kingdom and glory. The same is the sense of the following clause ⁸. While we CAN NOT agree here with the idea of deserving rejection in this sense of forsaking, we should see that Mr. Gill does offer us the idea of His Kingdom as a part of this worthiness. These are for us the instructions to one’s final state of discipleship and being accounted worthy and there are many who are striving toward this who ARE NOT rejected nor banished.
• Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete), tells us in part that: It is very encouraging to think, that whatever we leave, or lose, or suffer for Christ, we do not make a hard bargain for ourselves. Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves with this persuasion, that it is well worth what we give for it. The terms are, that we must prefer Christ. First, Before our nearest and dearest relations; father or mother, son or daughter. Between these relations, because there is little room left for envy, there is commonly more room for love, and, therefore, these are instanced, as relations which are most likely to affect us. Children must love their parents, and parents must love their children; but if they love them better than Christ, they are unworthy of him. As we must not be deterred from Christ by the hatred of our relations which he spoke of (v. 21, v. 35, v. 36), so we must not be drawn from him, by their love. While we do not see the relationship of this verse with those referenced by Mr. Henry, we do see that his grasp on this is in tune with that Love that is emotionally and mentally oriented and this IS NOT in our view the intent of the Master’s thoughts although His thoughts would likely include this. The greater reality is that a man that is positioned at this place of being accounted worthy of the Kingdom and discipleship understands the Truth of this idea of Love that we find in the Great Commandments above. Again, the idea of Loving Christ as it is expressed here MUST per force include the reality of His own words that tell us “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21).

In these ideas we should see that there is no consistency in understanding this saying from the Master nor what it means to be worthy of Him and here we maintain that the reality IS the same, that being worthy of Him is being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God and this IS the same as being His disciple. We did not get to where we intended to go today which is to discuss the reality of the Great Commandments in relation to our ideas here and we will try again for this in the next essay.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

We repeat here a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.

My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com