A thought on Jesus
July 25th 2006 00:00
I came across my old bible today... hadn't opened it in quite a long time. Now, I have no religious affiliation. The common term for that is "atheist". But I do not like catergorising myself as an atheist because that term has certain connotations which I do not like being associated with. For example, when I think of atheism, I think of having a sarcastic and condescending attitude towards religion. And I don't feel that way. I simply just don't agree with any of the religions I've come across so far in my life.
I do believe however that a man named Jesus, who came from a town called Nazareth and was the symbolic leader of the Xian religion did exist at one point in history. And I also believe that the sayings that are accredited to him, regardless of whether they were said by him or not, are very wise and interesting to read. I enjoy reading up on that kind of thing, you know quotes and wise sayings and such. Two of my favourites:
- One by a Greek philosopher named Xenophanes who stated that (something along the lines of); "If horses and cows had deities, they would be in the form of horses and cows"
- and another by Confucius: "Love your job and you will never have to work a day in your life".
The first one perfectly summarised my view of religion and the second is what I hope to achieve in the future.
But back to Jesus... I was always impressed by the things he said and today I'll just share with you one of those "classic" moments that were either made up or recorded.
I'll quote an NIV passage from Luke chapter 20 and then explain my take on it...
19The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
20Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
23He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24"Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"
25"Caesar's," they replied.
(Next is the punch line) He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
26They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
Ok, for those who have no idea what this is about, here's the scenario. Now the Jews have a very lustrous and complex religious culture. They believe in set texts and commentaries on those texts - Torah and Talmud (forget which one's which). Anywho back in the day when Jesus was around, there were these "teachers of the law" - they would be like the religious leaders I guess, who would interpret what the "law of god" was and teach people how to live according to those laws. In Jesus' eyes, they were mostly corrupt and hypocritical and so he said a few things to people to let them know of this. The teachers of the law get offended by this and send "spies" to ask him difficult questions in the hopes of trapping him in his own words - basically to discredit him.
In this passage, they ask him a question on taxes. Now the question they ask him has no right answer. If he said "yes, you should pay taxes" - he'd be contradicting the religious teaching that one should only worship god. By paying taxes you were sort of acknowledging that Caesar was a god. Now of course everyone paid taxes, but this is a more theoretical and abstract debate. Now had he said "no, you shouldn't pay taxes" - then he'd again be contradicting a religious law that you should obey the laws of the land you live in, or something along those lines. My explanations may not be accurate, but the main point is that either way, he'd be contradicting either something he had said earlier, or the Jewish law.
So these spies think they have Jesus in a trap by asking this question. And to answer them, he coolly and calmly asks them to bring him a "denarius" - Roman coin, and asks whose insignia is on it. It's like the minting date and ruler's portrait and stuff - same things we find on any coin. When they reply to him that it's Caesar's, he states "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's"...
Now this can be understood in a few different ways, but in all ways the main point is that he shuts them up. He has just answered an unanswerable question. In the end what he's really saying is that, "I know what you're trying to do by asking this, and my reply is that these types of hypothetical questions are a waste of time. This is Caesar's coin, so give to him what is his." With the "Give to God what is God's" - my take is that he's saying, "Instead of being hypocrits and wasting time trying to discredit me, go and do something that is righteous, something good, to please the god you believe in".
Now I guess that may sound more confusing than anything else. But if you were in the know, you could appreciate just how clever and intriguing that comment was. I reckon, if he was around now, he could be a successful politician in any government. The things he says are extremely clever. Sometimes bizzare and confusing, but for the most part clever.
I'm sure he'd have a lot to say about the world right now, if he was indeed around... heh
Not as the "son of god" but as a person, I do respect him...-Heej-
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Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Heej
Dota Stars
"People create religions and deities rather than the other way around."
Couldn't have said it better... I think if you can overlook the authority structures and take what you can of the ethics offered by a religion, then that religion has done its job.
Sadly though, the objectives of religious organisations seem to be far from just offering ethics...