A Reflection on Perhaps the “Meanest” and Most Shocking Thing Jesus Ever Said

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | November 18, 2014 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Servant of the Cross]

Matthew 15:26 was exactly what came to my mind as the “meanest” thing Jesus ever said ...

[Biggirl]

Sadly, too many people in DENIAL. Denial is NOT a river in Egypt.

[defconw]

This so interesting. I just looked up Monsignor Pope. I expected him to be older for some reason. LOL. A lot to think on here. I will be interested to see the comments.

[veracious]

Interesting FR name: Salvation, which is the name of the Word made flesh, Yeshua! Greetings Yeshua!

2 Chronicles 6:41
Now therefore arise, YHVH God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, YHVH God, be clothed with Yeshua(salvation) and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

Psalm 24:5
He shall receive a blessing from the YHVH And righteousness from the God of his Yeshua(salvation).

Psalm 25:5
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my Yeshua(salvation); For You I wait all the day.

Psalm 50:23
He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the Yeshua(salvation) of God.

Acts 13:26
Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this Yeshua(salvation) has been sent.

[notaliberal]

Reflection

Life is short and death is sure, the hour of death remains obscure. A soul you have and only one. If that be lost all hope is gone. Waste not your time while time shall last. For after death 'tis ever past. The all-seeing God your Judge will be. Or heaven or hell your destiny. All earthly things will fleet away. Eternity will ever stay.

-unknown

[odawg]

I bought a copy of “The Merged Gospels” by Gary Crossland. It is billed as “A literal translation of the Greek Gospels, broken down word-by-word in four columns, and reassembled chronologically into one flowing story.” It is not for the squeamish.

[avenir]

“Look at what he had to say every single time his mother was being discussed.”

Yes, He never has seemed sentimental! There is a frightening quality to Jesus Christ because we are, on many levels, cowardly hiding from Him...as if He in any way meant us real harm.

I know He loved Mary, yet unsentimentally rejected any attempt to exalt her.

[cuban leaf]

I notice that he really seemed to love people but more from an eternal perspective rather than their life in their temporary tent (the human biological machine).

I am thinking of his comments to his disciples who were amazed by human structures and his “not one stone left on another” remark. It’s as if to him this is all temporal. In a very real sense, as if it is all “The Matrix”.

[annalex]

and even declare it to be historically fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD

That is a bit of a stretch. Theophilus says:

Whom he will deliver to death, casting them into the outer fire. But even in this world they were most miserably slain by the Roman army.

The focus is on the eternal punishment of those who reject Christ; the destruction of the temple by emperor Titus was a precursor to it, and Theophilus mentions it as such. Once we realize that the "mean" part is the Second Coming of Christ and the last judgment, it becomes clear that there is nothing out of line in the conclusion of this parable.

Look at the sinners descendign into the Fiery River:

Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

[ShadowAce]

Yes—that was why I put “mean” in quotes.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Love,love, LOVE Msgr. Pope!

He's tough!

[avenir]

Interesting. Recently I was doing an online bible study and the pastor brought up the Matrix. There are some interesting parallels there.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Jesus. Will you send me to hell for disregarding you all my life and into my death?

MEANY!!!!!

To paraphrase John Adams from the movie “1776” ‘for crying out loud people, we’re declaring war, we have to offend SOMEBODY!’

[cuban leaf]

I was in a prison ministry band and did the “speech” from the first movie. I had a crewcut, wore the shades and even the long black coat.

It began with “Let me tell you why you’re here.”, right out of the movie. I had to modify the end a bit to bring it to Christ and not Alice in Wonderland, but I most definitely think the movie is an allegory of the teachings of Christianity.

There is a controversy that Sophia Stewart actually came up with the story for The Third Eye, but apparently the court case did not go in her favor because she didn’t show up for a hearing. I believe she saw it as a Christian allegory.

It could explain why the second and third movies were such stinkers.

But yes, the Christians took the red pill.

[ifinnegan]

Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. (Luke 19:11 NKJV)

—

Dr. Luke says at the outset that the parable is meant to address the idea that the Kingdom of God would appear immediately.

It would seem Pope’s 4 somewhat touches on it.

[avenir]

Your prison ministry performance sounds great. Have a great day!

[OldNewYork]

Interesting.

[boatbums]

I had to watch that movie about three or four times before the WHOLE story made sense to me. I recall reading that the Wachowski brothers (now sister and brother) had the idea to make it a parallel to Jesus as the Savior who would lead mankind out of the false dream world built around them. Some people would refuse to escape and chose to remain, preferring the comfort of what wasn't "real" (Cypher, for example). I could see many real life comparisons.