The Jewish Church in Jesus’s day 2,000 years ago had everything in a very tight theological and ritualistic box as what was acceptable belief and practice. Anyone in this box was in the Family of God. Anyone not in this box was not in the Family of God. These people had precise beliefs and rituals as to what was acceptable and what was unacceptable. The Christian Church today as a whole is very similar. Jesus Christ came along and preached something that was very different. He preached on a third alternative .... The Kingdom of God.

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Jesus's Basic Teaching:

The Kingdom of God as a Third Alternative:

.... The Teaching of the Kingdom of God was
an absurd notion against all the might of the Roman Empire ....

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Jesus set out a basic ground of verbal teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:17- 42), for His new Kingdom Order where he taught His disciples principles like:

Message Bible: Luke 6:17- 42:

You're Blessed

^{17 -21} Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch him—so much energy surging from him, so many people healed! Then he spoke:

• ·You're blessed when you've lost it all.

• God's kingdom is there for the finding.

• You're blessed when you're ravenously hungry.

• Then you're ready for the Messianic meal.

• You're blessed when the tears flow freely.

• Joy comes with the morning.

^{22 -23} "Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me.

What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like! ... for even though they don't like it, I do.and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.

Give Away Your Life

²⁴ But it's trouble ahead if you think you have it made. What you have is all you'll ever get.

²⁵ And it's trouble ahead if you're satisfied with yourself. Your self will not satisfy you for long. And it's trouble ahead if you think life's all fun and games. There's suffering to be met, and you're going to meet it.

²⁶ "There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.

^{27 - 30} "To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

^{31 - 34} "Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

^{35 -36} "I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

^{37 - 38} "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."

^{39 - 40} He quoted a proverb: "'Can a blind man guide a blind man?' Wouldn't they both end up in the ditch? An apprentice doesn't lecture the master. The point is to be careful who you follow as your teacher.

^{41 - 42} "It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbour's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you, ' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbour.

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Summary and Implications:

• The focus of Jesus was on an internal, invisible change of heart and not on an external, visible keeping of certain standards and religious laws.

• The life He presented was an internal one which flowed out to have external, visible actions ..... especially on how we treated other people. Life is an 'Inside - Out' approach and not an 'Outside - In' approach .... It starts with us being better people on the inside.

• His whole primary focus was people as one humanity (not by race or gender), not ideas or religious teachings as with the Jewish Religious people of His day.
  

• Jesus's view of people was radically different to his religious contemporaries. His religious counterparts had people graded into a hierarchy of those who within their religious framework of acceptability who kept close adherence to the teachings, standards and religious laws that they subscribed to. This went way beyond the teaching of the Old Testament.

• He was calling for a new order of living that was countercultural to the prevailing culture of the day. There was a separation between the cultural concern for prosperity, position and power

• Jesus’s new order was countercultural as to how to treat people:

Count yourself blessed every time:

1. someone cuts you down or throws you out

2. when the tears flow freely

3. when you're ravenously hungry ie. starving for food

Give Away Your Life. Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. Give without expecting a return. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

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The Radical Nature of The Kingdom of God:

The teaching of the Kingdom of God did not possess strong qualities to take over the world ...... but when applied by Jesus followers, actually worked and turned the world upside down when outworked with the preaching of the Good News of His new Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God focus applies in the here and now!! and not when we die or Jesus comes again. That teaching was an absurd notion against all the might of the Roman Empire. The meaning of this Kingdom of God was summarised finally in the Roman cross on which Jesus was crucified at the age of 33 and ½ years ..... for someone who only lived this very short life. The cross had two members: a strong vertical member symbolised the link between God and us and a horizontal member which symbolised us with everyone else linked together

Some Facts:

• Jesus Christ came along 2000 years ago as a son of Galilean carpenter
• Galilee was a very lowly backwater position
• He taught only 3 and ½ years .... he didn’t start till thirty years of age
• He had twelve unlearned disciples, a very motley bunch …. Two of whom were called the son’s of thunder …. . in fact they were ALL at each others throats …
• One became the treasurer of Jesus’s group and used to thieve money for himself from the common purse and finally sold Jesus to the Jewish leaders for 30 pieces of silver

• One was very brash and self confident who denied him three times at the end ..... it wasn't a very promising group of men to start a revolution with

• Jesus never wrote anything down except for a moment of writing a short message in the sand when the woman caught in adultery was brought to him by the Pharisees …. the message was blown away by the next strong wind … not a very permanent record of His teachings

• He came into a culture that was dominated by the Roman Empire .... a very oppressive regime
• The culture largely consisted of unlearned peasants
• You either walked everywhere, rode a donkey or horseback or went by sailing ship across the sea if you wanted to get to another country
• There were no telephones, newspapers, computers or e-mails

• Jesus was totally concerned with the politics of the heart …. Of the inner person and not the outer person and the external issues. He was neither left or right in his politics but very much of the centre. He was seen as the Messiah Jesus. One of the followers of the Messiah Jesus wrote: “ ........ when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth (John’s Gospel Chapt. 4 vs. 23, 24).

“ Before He left us, He prayed for you and I in: John 17:20 'Neither, pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe, on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

'I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them'

In Jesus's prayer there are only two kinds of people: those for Him and those against Him. A few points in Jesus's prayer:

• That they all may be one: There is only one group .... His followers called from the world ..... not many different followers of all different churches or spiritualities ..... followers of Him alone as the Lord Jesus Christ
• As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: the degree of togetherness was to be the same degree that Jesus was with His Father = the standard
• That the world may believe that thou hast sent me: Our degree of unity would result in the world believing in Jesus Christ.

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The Four Kinds of People Which Jesus Christ Dealt With:

Those four kinds are still with us today. These were:

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Description	Publisher Descriptions
Put Your Faith into Action! A leading voice at the crossroads of faith and politics offers a prophetic appeal for our times: faced with a growing gap between the rich and poor, bombarded by national security alerts that ratchet up our stress levels, taxed by a govern-ment that spends billions of dollars on war - where do we find hope? In this revised and updated edition of his classic, Jim Wallis insightfully critiques contemporary culture and politics, inspiring us with stories to convert our way of thinking and point to a solution to our current social and political dilemmas. - Publisher

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See the context of the teachings of Jesus Chist in the First Century by seeing these Blog Sites on the early Roman Empire:

• Early Rome ..... The Forum Area .... The forum was the centre of political, commercial and judicial life in ancient Rome. The largest buildings were the basilicas, where legal cases were heard. According to the playwright Plautus, the area teemed with “lawyers and litigants, bankers and brokers, shopkeepers and strumpets, good-for- nothings waiting for a tip from the rich”.
  

• Early Rome ... Aurelian Walls ..... The wall was initiated under the emperor Aurelian in the 3th century AD. Even though the wall is 3th century AD., it illustrates the continuing might of the Roman Empire.

• The Palantino Area …… the Suburban Area where Romans lived in the First Century

• THE ROMAN EMPIRE in the First Century .... The Teaching of the Kingdom of God was an absurd notion against all the might of the Roman Empire

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For Further Reading Beyond a Spirituality from Jesus Christ
.... see this Blog Site ..... and see the further developments in the
4th Century at this Blog Site.

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