Text: Luke 6:37-42
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Reflections: Jesus was consistently equipping the people to understand the art of living. He was very much concerned about the moral standards and ethical issues in life, and he did not fail to manifest it in word and deed. However, the functional deliberations of the religious leadership were so preconceived, and unconsciously, their perverted intentions demarcated the people and prehensile them with hatred and division.
During the time of Jesus, there was an enormous display of anger and vengeance which tumulted the people’s consciousnesses. We can infer this because they were under colonial oppression, and the competence tendencies led them to belittle “the other” for survival notions.
Free society accepts everyone, but the bonded society negates the very presence of others. Perhaps the ethical self relates to every living thing, and it is basically a mental construct. The unnecessary “Phobia” (fear) sprouts when there is a misunderstanding of oneself, relatively. No one is special in the eyes of God, and everyone is special. This complementary mindset leads to realise the real pursuit of happiness. In the words of John Donne, “No one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others’ and spins, the ill-rated constructs in the human bed and thrives to move for a constructive and a celebrative life.” This affirmed belief will help the wheels of human life towards the roads of peace and joy. Otherwise, the preconceived opinions or the opinionated mind set will never help oneself to subdue the jangling discords in the human domain. When we brand a person or label a person in a deconstructive way, it will never help the abyss in the divided humanity to disappear. Rather, it will create greeted damage to the existence of human life.
The ubiquity of a wounded psyche accelerated a murder in the book of Genesis: Chapter 4. Abel’s brother, Cain, failed to analyze the situation and derailed his thoughts to a state of distortion due to his negative opinion on his own brother, Abel. The act of jealousy failed his relationship and lost the blessing for what he was called to do. This occurred because of our discursive human nature which is grounded with the ill-notions that destroy the design of God.
To resurrect such values in the realm of spirituality, Jesus’ pedagogy played a vital place in Jewish history. Jesus was very keen in imparting value-based practise. He called for a true spirituality beyond the wall of human intuitions that torment the very fabric of human dignity and respect. One powerful poet from the Orient explains, Bharathiyar says “If one single man suffers from starvation, we will destroy the entire world.” This urges the dominant and the privileged to respond to the pathos with a sense of introspection without isolating them from the so-called deprived world. The pattern of Jesus indicates the true value of living that originates when one’s opinion helps the other to construct the rightful life. He was so indignant towards the hypocrisies which vacillated between the projected self and the real self among human beings, especially the faith community.
God wants everyone to be transparent to their own self. Evaluating our own self will help us to taste the truth in life. Truth gives us freedom. Freedom affirms life to all in an equal manner and also an impartial one. It never treats someone as special or puts the other in a derogatory manner; such things happen because of the human ill from negativity and sin. Philosophically the Socratic apparatus begins with a question, “Who Am I?” Jesus’ apparatus is theocentric, and thus first calls us to believe in God who created all individuals with innate rights as the expression of God’s jubilating design.
Jesus was keen in highlighting the accountability in life, which demands the means and trajectories in operating our lives. And, the epitome of his preaching is apexed in the act of forgiving. It helps us to heal the self and the other to draw a new consciousness instead of living in consensus with odds. Many times, such consensus occurs due to fear over the future, but when we understand God, our future will continue to display the qualities of the divine without any fear in a modest way.
Oh God!
....continue to help us to be brave when we stand in the context of fear,
....continue to help us to be calm when we sit with disturbance,
....continue to help us to be polite when we are treated lowly,
....continue to help us to be gallant in the context of nothingness,
....continue to help us to be transparent in the context of hypocrisy,
….continue to help us to be forgiving in the context of hatred,
….continue to help us to be a blessing in the context of condemnation.
Amen. Alleluia! Alleluia!!
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Reflections: Jesus was consistently equipping the people to understand the art of living. He was very much concerned about the moral standards and ethical issues in life, and he did not fail to manifest it in word and deed. However, the functional deliberations of the religious leadership were so preconceived, and unconsciously, their perverted intentions demarcated the people and prehensile them with hatred and division.
During the time of Jesus, there was an enormous display of anger and vengeance which tumulted the people’s consciousnesses. We can infer this because they were under colonial oppression, and the competence tendencies led them to belittle “the other” for survival notions.
Free society accepts everyone, but the bonded society negates the very presence of others. Perhaps the ethical self relates to every living thing, and it is basically a mental construct. The unnecessary “Phobia” (fear) sprouts when there is a misunderstanding of oneself, relatively. No one is special in the eyes of God, and everyone is special. This complementary mindset leads to realise the real pursuit of happiness. In the words of John Donne, “No one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others’ and spins, the ill-rated constructs in the human bed and thrives to move for a constructive and a celebrative life.” This affirmed belief will help the wheels of human life towards the roads of peace and joy. Otherwise, the preconceived opinions or the opinionated mind set will never help oneself to subdue the jangling discords in the human domain. When we brand a person or label a person in a deconstructive way, it will never help the abyss in the divided humanity to disappear. Rather, it will create greeted damage to the existence of human life.
The ubiquity of a wounded psyche accelerated a murder in the book of Genesis: Chapter 4. Abel’s brother, Cain, failed to analyze the situation and derailed his thoughts to a state of distortion due to his negative opinion on his own brother, Abel. The act of jealousy failed his relationship and lost the blessing for what he was called to do. This occurred because of our discursive human nature which is grounded with the ill-notions that destroy the design of God.
To resurrect such values in the realm of spirituality, Jesus’ pedagogy played a vital place in Jewish history. Jesus was very keen in imparting value-based practise. He called for a true spirituality beyond the wall of human intuitions that torment the very fabric of human dignity and respect. One powerful poet from the Orient explains, Bharathiyar says “If one single man suffers from starvation, we will destroy the entire world.” This urges the dominant and the privileged to respond to the pathos with a sense of introspection without isolating them from the so-called deprived world. The pattern of Jesus indicates the true value of living that originates when one’s opinion helps the other to construct the rightful life. He was so indignant towards the hypocrisies which vacillated between the projected self and the real self among human beings, especially the faith community.
God wants everyone to be transparent to their own self. Evaluating our own self will help us to taste the truth in life. Truth gives us freedom. Freedom affirms life to all in an equal manner and also an impartial one. It never treats someone as special or puts the other in a derogatory manner; such things happen because of the human ill from negativity and sin. Philosophically the Socratic apparatus begins with a question, “Who Am I?” Jesus’ apparatus is theocentric, and thus first calls us to believe in God who created all individuals with innate rights as the expression of God’s jubilating design.
Jesus was keen in highlighting the accountability in life, which demands the means and trajectories in operating our lives. And, the epitome of his preaching is apexed in the act of forgiving. It helps us to heal the self and the other to draw a new consciousness instead of living in consensus with odds. Many times, such consensus occurs due to fear over the future, but when we understand God, our future will continue to display the qualities of the divine without any fear in a modest way.
Oh God!
....continue to help us to be brave when we stand in the context of fear,
....continue to help us to be calm when we sit with disturbance,
....continue to help us to be polite when we are treated lowly,
....continue to help us to be gallant in the context of nothingness,
....continue to help us to be transparent in the context of hypocrisy,
….continue to help us to be forgiving in the context of hatred,
….continue to help us to be a blessing in the context of condemnation.
Amen. Alleluia! Alleluia!!
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