Andrew
Matt 18:15
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Copy/Pasta from something I found kinda interesting. Thoughts?
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At first I was attempting to find an answer to one of the "contradictions" in the Bible. I think I read somewhere that atheists claim that the beattitudes given by Jesus in Matthew are not the same as given in Luke.
For example, in Matthew, right before he gives his sermon, it says that Jesus went UP on a mountain side. We call it the "Sermon on the Mount."
But in Luke, right before Jesus gives the same sermon, it says that he went DOWN to a level place. Well, that doesn't sound much like being up on a mountain side. I've been on mountain sides. They're not very level! So much for being the sermon on the mount! How about the sermon on the level place? Doesn't have the same ring to it.
Also, in Luke, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor."
But in Matthew, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor IN SPIRIT."
In Luke, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger."
But in Matthew, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
So, there's differences in the kinds of things Jesus said.
Now, the obvious answer is that these are different sermons, given at different places, at different times. Jesus probably preached much of the same things to everyone over and over again. He went to a lot of towns!
But there's more insight to it than that....
Ever since I moved into the city (I used to be in the suburbs), I noticed the stark contrast between the rich and poor. It's less obvious in the suburbs.
On top of the bluff (I live on a bluff), there's this one street called Moss Avenue. It's got huge rich mansions. Historical mansions from the early 1900's. Rich people live there for sure.
But right down the hill, there's literally the poorest part of the city. I had a few friends who lived down there (black friends), and this part of the city is basically the ghetto. You can tell that these neighborhoods were once pretty nice. They were probably predominantly white at one time, before what they call the "White Flight" when all the white people fled to the suburbs (and took all the wealth with them). Since then, the neighborhood has just gone down hill. Homes are dilapitated, not kept up. etc. Some people have pride in their home and make it look nice. But most of it's pretty bad (and there's crime, gun fights, etc.)
Anyway, I kept noticing that wherever you go, you don't typically find big rich mansions down the hill, or down in the valley. It's not until you get up on top of the hill that you find the big, fancy, new, rich homes with 3 car garages and pillars and all kinds of stuff. The same thing can be seen in the suburbs, but it's not quite as drastic as in the city. But even in the suburbs the poor people live down in the valley (called The Bottoms), and the rich homes are found up on top of hills (they have the best views).
Then I realized, when Jesus was DOWN on a level place, he said, "Blessed are those who are poor."
But when Jesus was UP on a mountain side, he said, "Blessed are those who are poor IN SPIRIT."
Then it hit me. In Luke, Jesus is down where the poor people are. Of course he's going to say blessed are those who are poor. People down the hill really are poor!
But when Jesus was up on the mountain side, he was probably mostly around rich, wealthy folks, who have built their homes up on top of a bluff, overlooking parts of the city. Jesus isn't going to say to them "Blessed are those who are poor."
These people aren't poor!
But he's saying that even though you're not poor, you can still be poor IN SPIRIT.
Meaning, that even though you have wealth, you still stay humble AS IF you are poor, not being engrossed in your wealth, being all puffed up and prideful because of being wealthy.
Also, if you're rich, you may not be hungry, because you're probably well fed. But you can still be hungry and thirsty FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
But poor people really do hunger (maybe not today because of food stamps, but back then, poor people really were hungry!)
I realized that these are two sermons given to different groups of people, one down the hill and primarily poor, and another up the hill and primarily rich. And the landscape of the story backs that up.
----------------------------
At first I was attempting to find an answer to one of the "contradictions" in the Bible. I think I read somewhere that atheists claim that the beattitudes given by Jesus in Matthew are not the same as given in Luke.
For example, in Matthew, right before he gives his sermon, it says that Jesus went UP on a mountain side. We call it the "Sermon on the Mount."
But in Luke, right before Jesus gives the same sermon, it says that he went DOWN to a level place. Well, that doesn't sound much like being up on a mountain side. I've been on mountain sides. They're not very level! So much for being the sermon on the mount! How about the sermon on the level place? Doesn't have the same ring to it.
Also, in Luke, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor."
But in Matthew, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor IN SPIRIT."
In Luke, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger."
But in Matthew, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
So, there's differences in the kinds of things Jesus said.
Now, the obvious answer is that these are different sermons, given at different places, at different times. Jesus probably preached much of the same things to everyone over and over again. He went to a lot of towns!
But there's more insight to it than that....
Ever since I moved into the city (I used to be in the suburbs), I noticed the stark contrast between the rich and poor. It's less obvious in the suburbs.
On top of the bluff (I live on a bluff), there's this one street called Moss Avenue. It's got huge rich mansions. Historical mansions from the early 1900's. Rich people live there for sure.
But right down the hill, there's literally the poorest part of the city. I had a few friends who lived down there (black friends), and this part of the city is basically the ghetto. You can tell that these neighborhoods were once pretty nice. They were probably predominantly white at one time, before what they call the "White Flight" when all the white people fled to the suburbs (and took all the wealth with them). Since then, the neighborhood has just gone down hill. Homes are dilapitated, not kept up. etc. Some people have pride in their home and make it look nice. But most of it's pretty bad (and there's crime, gun fights, etc.)
Anyway, I kept noticing that wherever you go, you don't typically find big rich mansions down the hill, or down in the valley. It's not until you get up on top of the hill that you find the big, fancy, new, rich homes with 3 car garages and pillars and all kinds of stuff. The same thing can be seen in the suburbs, but it's not quite as drastic as in the city. But even in the suburbs the poor people live down in the valley (called The Bottoms), and the rich homes are found up on top of hills (they have the best views).
Then I realized, when Jesus was DOWN on a level place, he said, "Blessed are those who are poor."
But when Jesus was UP on a mountain side, he said, "Blessed are those who are poor IN SPIRIT."
Then it hit me. In Luke, Jesus is down where the poor people are. Of course he's going to say blessed are those who are poor. People down the hill really are poor!
But when Jesus was up on the mountain side, he was probably mostly around rich, wealthy folks, who have built their homes up on top of a bluff, overlooking parts of the city. Jesus isn't going to say to them "Blessed are those who are poor."
These people aren't poor!
But he's saying that even though you're not poor, you can still be poor IN SPIRIT.
Meaning, that even though you have wealth, you still stay humble AS IF you are poor, not being engrossed in your wealth, being all puffed up and prideful because of being wealthy.
Also, if you're rich, you may not be hungry, because you're probably well fed. But you can still be hungry and thirsty FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
But poor people really do hunger (maybe not today because of food stamps, but back then, poor people really were hungry!)
I realized that these are two sermons given to different groups of people, one down the hill and primarily poor, and another up the hill and primarily rich. And the landscape of the story backs that up.
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