"And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They
have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with
thee?"[22]
Jesus was apparently annoyed at his mother's interference, though he
followed her suggestion. He did not set a good example for children in
addressing their mothers.
When the Syrophenician woman asked him to help her daughter, "Jesus
saith unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to
take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she
answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat
of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy
way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter."[23]
Jesus practically admitted that he had made a mistake in speaking
unkindly to a Gentile. Her clever answer induced him to change his
decision. A physician who called a stranger's child a dog would now be
considered brutal even in a free hospital.
"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go
and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead
bury their dead."[24]
Jesus could have allowed the man to attend his father's funeral and
follow him later. Would not that have set a better precedent?
When Peter intervened to protect Jesus, the latter "turned, and said
unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me."[25]
Even though Jesus was determined to go on with the sacrifice, he could
have been more appreciative of his best friend's suggestion.
_Unethical Advice_
When the unjust steward cheated his employer, Jesus gave the following
remarkable advice:
"And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely:
for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the
children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you
into everlasting habitations."[26]
This passage should be read again before deciding whether Jesus advised
opportunism rather than morality. The words must be taken as they are;
no interpretation can be based upon the assumption that Jesus was always
right and therefore meant something different from what he said.
_Sermon on the Mount_
Many Christians say that they care nothing for theology; that the Sermon
on the Mount contains all that is necessary for a religious life, being
a perfect system of ethics.
The Sermon on the Mount does contain many admirable principles, but also
some that are inferior to present standards. Few of the people who
praise this Sermon would think it proper to abide by all the teachings
therein. Christian parents do not wish their children to follow either
the letter or the spirit of this famous preachment. It begins in the
fifth chapter of Matthew.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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