Matthew 7: Jesus testifying to the truth

[There are three hints to the-ineluctable-truth in the literature: the mystery of Jesus’ influence on Genesis 1:26-28 NIV, John 1:1's claim that Jesus is God, and Mathew 5:48's "Be [as] perfect". The living Jesus may have advocated the-good rather than claimed to be “anointed one& king”. Human-beings can& may accept the-good, continually pursue the-good, and continuously practice the-good. If asked how humankind discovered self-interest in the-good, we can express appreciation to Jesus. Also, see my Genesis 1 essay about human duty at the end of this study.] 

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ “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? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. [So far, the civic-guidance is clear.]

⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. [Are dogs and pigs metaphors for persons the-God has not chosen to believe Jesus? How are they so powerful? How can the believer discern them when instructed not to judge?]

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. [I am fortunate to have lived to 78, because only then did I perceive I have been positively influenced by the-civic-Jesus all my life. Then, I erroneously reported it to Andy Hale that it is the-metahpysical-Jesus.]

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. [I have studied this rule and about 8 alternates for years and find them all egocentric. And if you assume the other wants what you want, you have judged them. Better to aid comprehensive safety& security on earth so that every human-being can& may responsibly pursue the happiness they want rather than the happiness you would impose. Also, Jesus corrected the Law, e.g., consider Matthew 19:3-8.]

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. [To grasp just how precise the narrow road is, consider Matthew 5:48, be as perfect.]

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. [Does a person work for mutual, comprehensive safety& security to life on earth? If so, they seem aware of Genesis 1:26-28. For all we know, Jesus wrote that political philosophy. Nevertheless, we do not know the-ineluctable-truth.]

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ [I think the-civic-Jesus advocates for the-good. However, the-good could never serve as my guide. I cannot avoid, change, escape, neglect, rationalize, or resist Jesus.]

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” [Fellow civic-citizens are my rock. When I withdrew from the Baptist brotherhood and from Christianity, my family, mostly Cynthia, was my rock and mutual friends aided my journey to discover that under my pursuit of the-ineluctable-truth I advocate the-civic-Jesus. I don’t think I could have written that thought had I not returned to UBC and joined Nomads Class. Now, I feel effective in Courage Class and look forward to the future.]

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. [Challenged by Pilot to claim kingship, Jesus said, “. . . the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”]

The importance of Genesis 1, a 5,500 year old Mesopotamian political philosophy:

[I apply Genesis-1-NIV perspective to Bible interpretation. I think Genesis 1:26-28 NIV, in the-civic-Jesus-messages (CJM), given each 1) mysterious-Jesus, offering appreciation to human being (verb) and 2) Jesus’s “my peace”, suggests the following:  Human male unites-to female human-being (noun) and their spouse-hood can& may pursue comprehensive-safety& security to the living species and to the earth (SECURITY). Every person can& may accept personal duty to SECURITY. Some persons neglect, partially or wholly, mysterious-Jesus-appreciation, Jesus-peace& SECURITY-duty.

I call Genesis-1-NIV’s message, “responsible-human-independence” or RHI. Some human-beings throughout history practice, facilitate& encourage RHI; for example, Jesus exemplified RHI. From the past, RHI-individuals guide us and non-RHI-persons warn of error. I think the-civic-Jesus practiced, facilitated& encouraged RHI. “Civic” means reliable in human connections and transactions. Perhaps Jesus advocated the-good.

But I don’t know (IDK) the-ineluctable-truth. “Ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, or resisted: I can& may choose either RHI or dependency, such as religious arrogance.

Persons appreciating contemporary human being (verb), during each generation, develop the CJM I advocate. In other words, I attribute to CJM the civic-appreciation that human being (verb) applied “before Abraham was born” and since then. Given the question, “Was Jesus a man?”, my response, IDK, yet value CJM, seems sufficient& complete to my person. I advocate the-civic-Jesus and admit that could be the-good. Yet the-good cannot replace Jesus.

Perhaps CJM always was the-good human being (verb). That potential was present at the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. There’s joy in accepting IDK, seeking ineluctable-evidence, and reserving humility to RHI. Joy may facilitate happiness.

It seems the-laws-of-physics& progeny (PHYSICS) constrains the consequences of each person’s choices. That is, the laws of forces, mathematics, chemistries, biology, psychology, imagination, and their subsets. I choose to accept mysterious-Jesus and pursue Jesus’ “my-peace”, in-order-to commit-to and trust-in PHYSICS. For example, I work for food& shelter rather than accept what a bureaucrat might provide. I work to aid SECURITY rather than pray for an entity to usurp RHI. Make no mistake: if one of my loved ones seems threatened beyond my action, I pray.

Admitting I could be wrong, I accept that Genesis 1:26-28 NIV urges me to constrain chaos in my way of living, or urges me to the-good.]