The Radical Teaching of Jesus

The late theologian and author Henri J. Nouwen once wrote: 

The whole message of the gospel is this: Become like Jesus.  

This blunt and straightforward statement belies the fact that becoming like Jesus is extremely difficult, if not seemingly impossible. This fact has led many of us to give up trying.  

Or, at the very least, we do our best to mitigate his teaching, finding loopholes in the commands and exhortations Jesus gives in the Gospel accounts or glossing over them altogether.  

Most expressions of the Christian faith tend to rely too heavily on the writings of the Apostle Paul, which can be problematic because Paul's writings are often contradictory, obtuse, and sometimes seem downright antithetical to the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. 

I say this with all the experience of a person who has spent most of their life reading and studying the Bible and who still finds the scriptures compelling, inspiring, and filled with excellent lessons and guidance.  

But lately, I have been drawn more to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life and ministry and his teachings, which offer a blueprint for our transformation into people who look more like him. 

I am particularly interested in re-reading the Beatitudes (the "Blessed be's") at the outset of the sermon in Matthew chapter 5.  

Interpretations of this passage of Scripture have typically ranged from the overly syrupy to the incredibly mundane and even more pedantic versions that leave you feeling like a wretch who will never measure up.  

But Jesus' words were radical, so radical that they would have been met with consternation by those who heard them.  Charles E. Moore explains: 

With familiarity, the Beatitudes may have lost their original shock value.  It's as if Jesus were to say to us today: blessed are the ugly, the deformed, the repulsive.  Blessed are the dropouts, the losers, the abandoned, and the incurably ill.  And in a world that values a trouble-free life, Jesus tells his disciples to rejoice in their own persecution.  

As Jesus delivered his opening words to the Sermon on the Mount, the eyes of those who felt less than, not good enough, left out, and cast out brightened because they were finally hearing words of hope.  

Rather than setting an impossibly high standard for all of the teachings to follow, Jesus began his greatest sermon by saying to everyone there, "This one is for you... no matter who you are.  You can do this; you are blessed (made happy/chosen)." 

This is good news for all of us.  We don't have to look at the call to be "more like Jesus" as something so unattainable we can't possibly get there.  Jesus tells us otherwise.  Sure, it's difficult, but is there anything worth doing that isn't? 

May we all find hope in this and do everything we can to live a more Christ-like life.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever. Amen.