Help – Question on Jesus

I was reading the winner of the Good Atonement contest and some thoughts came up that I wanted your help on.

One of the things Steve Sherwood brings up is the nature of the Jewish community. The parables of the Prodigal Son shares the story of a culture that will not allow shame on the father. It’s essentially a very strict, legalistic community. And then I began to think about how Jesus shows up and essentially turns everything on its ear. The people just don’t get it. So much so that they crucify him.

The second thought was something a former professor of languages taught me. He said, “Human beings learn best in contrast.” In other words, the distinction of an object or word is always best known in light of its opposite or contrast.

And my question is this. Could God have established such a strict culture so that Jesus would stick out so much we wouldn’t miss it? In other words, love was so profound because of the culture Jesus arrived in.

Love your thoughts on this.

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The Quandary Of Following

Why it is so much easier to sit in the pew on Sunday morning and just do nothing?

If we say we believe, we will listen to His voice. But if we listen to His voice He may say something we don’t like. And if He says something we don’t like, we may not follow. And if we don’t follow we may just discover how much we don’t really believe. And we don’t like that, do we?

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