You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’
will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny." (Matthew 5: 21-26)
The above teaching of Christ is not only wise but also reflects the attitude of any rational and thoughtful person. First, Christ moves judgment from an external act of killing to an internal intention of harming someone else. Second, in Christ's teaching, worship starts with reconciliation with the other. My neighbour's forgiveness of my transgressions is more important than any gift I offer to God. Here we see the connectedness of everyone to everyone else and how it influences our connectedness to God. True love of God starts by true love of myself and from myself to the others I know. Once I love others with the love that seeks their interests and fulfills them with peace then I can say that I love God.
WORK IN PROGRESS...
No comments:
Post a Comment