John 12:44 … Which Christ to choose, & which to follow (08/17/16)
While the teachings of Paul (upon which the modern-day Christian religion were built) do claim that Jesus was the one and only Son of God, and while they do purport that only those who worship Jesus accordingly will be granted entrance into an eternal paradise after death, Jesus himself (in the texts of the same Bible, no less) repeatedly begged to differ … He actually repeatedly told his followers to avoid worshiping him; telling them over & over & over again to focus their adorations on an all-Loving God “above” (Matthew 5:48), to receive their guidance from Heaven “within” (Luke 17:20-21), and to concentrate their actions & their energies and indeed the majority of their entire lives on serving others “all around” (John 13:15-17).
Indeed, Jesus was a huge fan of humility (quite the understatement — see Matthew 18:3-4), and as such it makes no sense at all that he would demand adoration in any way, shape, or form. What does make sense, however, is that Jesus would want us to follow him — to adhere to his teachings of unconditional Love (especially for our enemies) and emulate his Way of selfless Service (given especially to the downtrodden) … And indeed this theory is fully supported by the Scriptures – where Jesus made it extremely clear that he himself was not to be worshiped (Mark 10:18, John 5:41, John 7:16, John 12:44, John 8:50, John 8:54 etc etc etc); that even though he was fulfilling the prophesied requirements thereof, he was not the war-like Davidian Messiah for whom everyone longed (Matthew 22:41-45, Luke 19:42, Luke 20:41-44, Luke 22:50-51, John 6:15 et al).
In Truth, almost all of the Bible’s references to “the Son of Man” speak not to a singular Messiah, but rather to humanity in general — to all of us … Yes, sometimes Jesus uses the term to relate to the potential awakening of the Child of God within, and yet he never uses it to arrogantly relate to himself (Remember: Jesus couldn’t stand arrogance — see Matthew 23).
“Why do you call me ‘Good”; no one is Good but God alone … Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life … And whoever believes in me believes not in me, but in the One who sent me … And Whoever believes in me, will DO the works I do.” ~ Jesus Christ (Mark 10:18 + John 6:47 + John 12:44 + John 14:12)
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