Sunday, June 28, 2020

Religious Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Analysis of Jesus Christ Conflicts Introduction Jesus was a Palestinian born in the 29 CE as a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies. His birth revolved around conquest and oppression at a time when religion formed the base of the laws and convictions.   From his birth, his life was faced two different opposing sides with much powerful classes championing his execution (Carter, 2013). From the start of mission in Galilee, Jesus started meeting oppositional challenges many questioning his clams as the son of God. During this time, religion was a strong component of the community with strict principles and laws that those who dared challenge them were punished, rejected and execution. Jesus would become a victim   Ã‚  always in conflict with the religious class of scribes and Pharisees (  Hauer Young, 2012). To begin with, while in Capernaum, Jesus found himself at loggerheads with the scribes after healing a paralyzed man passed through the rooftop. Jesus on s eeing the men and the faith they hard, told the paralyzed man, â€Å"Son, you sins are forgiven†. The scribes who teachers of the law were angered of Jesus claims to be forgiving sins in this they questioned Jesus legibility as a Jew and accused him of blasphemy (Mathew 9:2-8) In Mathew 9:10-13 (The Revised Standard Version Bible), Jesus was in another conflict when he requested for a dinner with Zacharias who was a tax collector. In the Jewish religious system by then, it was very unreligious to associate with sinners. Tax collectors then ware among the socially considered sinners. When Zacharias heard about Jesus, Jesus responded by allowing dinner with Zacharias. The Pharisees accused Jesus of relating with sinners (Carter, 2013). However, Jesus was quick to respond to the Pharisees by parable that the sick are the ones who need physician while those who are well do not. In this cases Jesus simply meant that sinners needed him most that n the righteous and that He came to rescue them from their evil loads In Mathew 12:1-8, Jesus was in another conflict with the Pharisees.   Jesus and his disciple were deep in hunger when they past by grain field. His disciples then plucked some of the grain heads to eat. The Pharisees did not accuse Jesus and his disciples for taking another man’s property but for doing it on a Sabbath day. Jesus did not defend his disciple that what they did was not wrong but he went to the bible to show that biblical laws itself can sometimes be set aside. He mentioned an example in which David and his companions fed on consecrated bread, which was considered unlawful. Jesus point was that people should be not be judged by their actions but according to their hearts and that, the letters of the law are not reliable guidelines to holiness (  Hauer Young, 2012). In mathew12:9-13 (The Revised Standard Version Bible), another conflict rose between Jesus and the Pharisees, in His attempt to heal the man with with ered hands, the Pharisees in their attempts to frame Jesus asked Him if it was lawful to heal man on Sabbath day. However, Jesus issued a logical response to the Pharisees. He asked the Pharisees if any one of them would leave their sheep in ditch on a Sabbath day and when they were not able to answer, Jesus told them that doing, good to fellow man would be better on a Sabbath than to a sheep. Jesus showed that there are more ways of doing good on a Sabbath and that sometimes works of charity are better than just observing Sabbath (Kraybill, 2011). In Mathew15:1-10 (The Revised Standard Version Bible) the Pharisees and the scribes who were on official mission from Jerusalem to spy on Jesus works challenged Jesus as to why the disciples did not wash their hands while eating as command by   the   traditions . Jesus responded to the challenge with an acquisition. He asked the scribes and the Pharisees why they go against God’s commandment by judging people as sinners to s atisfy their demands. The religious scribes demanded these religious washing based on their own demands not on the scriptures (Kraybill, 2011). In Mathew 22:15-22 (The Revised Standard Version Bible) leaders sent some of the Pharisees and supporters of the then king Herod   to trap Jesus into   saying something of which he could be arrested . They asked him whether it was indeed lawful to pay poll tax to Caesar or not. Jesus on the other hand looked at them and then asked them whose portrait was on the coin. They both agreed that the coin had Caesar’s portrait. Then Jesus told them to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God (  Hauer Young, 2012). Lastly in Mathew 22:23-33 the Sadducees   who did not believe in resurrection challenged Jesus about a   woman married by six brothers   and what will happen on the resurrection day   when all the brothers will be resurrected. Jesus was quick to respond by notifying their little under standing of the bible. He told them that on resurrection no marriage is mentioned and that God is God of the living not the dead (Kraybill, 2011). The conflict between Jesus, the scribes Pharisees and the legal authorities was a supremacy battle .the legal authority, the Pharisees and the scribes thought they would lose their positions and popularity as the followers of Jesus continuously grew in number.   The conflict then were formulated strategies to find basic grounds of eliminating Jesus through on claims that he would have broken the law (Carter, 2013). This shows little understanding about religion and how many people in those ties used religion for personal gains. In conclusion, the knowledge of the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees opens a wider understanding of the real missions of Jesus. The gospel of Mathew gives a account the missionary work of Jesus and the challenges His missionary encountered. References Carter, W. (2013). Seven Events that Sha ped the New Testament Word. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, (Chapters 3, 4, and 5).    Hauer, C. E. Young W. A. (2012). An Introduction to the Bible: A Journey into Three Worlds, 8th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall (Introduction and chapters 10, and 11) Kraybill, D. B. (2011). The Upside-Down Kingdom, 5th Edition. Scottdale: Herald Press, (Chapters 5, 8, and 9) The Revised Standard Version Bible.

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