Commands V. Teachings

 There has been a lot of conversation recently about Jesus teachings, and where we find them.  But very little about His commands.   In Stan's post about that Great Commission, He makes the point that Jesus is commanding His disciples to go and male disciples.  As Stan notes, this command is based on Jesus' authority.   Jesus is clear when He says " “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Mat 28:18)", and because of the authority He has been given we are to go and make disciples because He gave the disciples the authority and ability to fulfill His command. 

Two things struck me as I was reading Stan's post.   First was the difference between a teacher and a king.  

Both the king and the teacher have authority.  Yet the authority of the teacher is limited and is temporarily given them by higher authority.  The authority of the teacher is primarily limited to their conduct within the walls of their classroom or perhaps their school.  Within their classroom, they have a great deal of authority delegated to them, outside of their classroom they have less authority, outside of their school they have virtually no authority.  Any authority that do have is only their by virtue of being subject to a principle, school board, union, and the state or federal departments of education.   Further, their authority diminishes outside of the subject matter that they teach.  For example, a gym teacher has very little authority when it comes to teaching biology.  

Contrast this with the authority of a king.  A king is the ultimate authority within their kingdom.   A king answers to no one withing his kingdom.   Historically we do see instances where a kingdom is subject to the authority of an empire, Herod for example, yet within Herod's kingdom he was the authority.  

As an aside, in a world today where kings are mostly ceremonial we probably don't give their authority much thought.    

Now that we've looked at relative authority, how do we respond to what teachers tell us and what kings tell us?

 The short answer is that the teachings of a teacher and the commands of a king are two entirely different things.    It is much easier and less risky to choose to ignore the teachings of a teacher, than the commands of a king.  It's also much easier to pick and choose those who teach you, than those who rule you.  In the Jewish tradition one could choose which rabbi to follow based on what they taught and whether you aligned with their teachings.  Likewise we are free to choose which schools we attend or send our children to or which religious leaders we want to be taught by.  Whether that choice is prompted by style or substance, is immaterial, the choice exists.  It's less easy to choose your king.  

So, what happens in the case of Jesus were the teacher is also The King?   Where The Logos who has existed from before time, and who created all that exists, chooses to step down from His throne and teach His disciples.   How do we separate His teachings from His commandments?  Can His teachings be dismissed or subordinated to the teachings of someone else?  If the Teacher is also the King aren't the consequences for choosing to ignore His teachings more significant?  If the Teacher is also the one who has "All authority in Heaven and one earth" should we not take that into account?  

When this teacher is asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” and replies “The most important one, is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”, is His reply a teaching or a commandment?   

Personally, I think that it's easier for us to limit what Jesus said to teachings, because it's easier to ignore or  dismiss teachings, than commandments.  It's easier to see Jesus as a teacher, even The Teacher,  than as The King.   But if Jesus isn't The King, and doesn't have "all authority in Heaven and on earth", then why should we consider His teachings authoritative or worth following?  

What Is A...?

 

"She kept a secret key

for the sacred door

where all the holy stories were held

and the mysteries contained

within that room

no man could ever tell

for these were secrets

known only to women

they learned it was safer that way

they were stories of pain

and stories of resistance

and a soon-coming better day."

 

If it is impossible to define the terms "She" and "woman", this literally has no meaning at all.   

Embrace Grace, Not!

 Hayley Stevens, a far left democrat, finally decided that she could not support or endorse El Sayed for Michigan's senate seat and has chosen to support the GOP candidate instead.  

 Unsurprisingly, the DFL has showered her with love, grace, support and encouragement for taking this brave and principled stand.  

Given how Dan and his ilk operate, we know how likely that is.   

Eugenics?

 https://tiredmoderate.substack.com/p/this-cant-keep-going?r=28q7xt&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer

 

 "What we’re witnessing in the US is the thrashings of miserable nihilistic leftists who are actively removing themselves from the future of humanity. It’s actually astonishing to watch; like a group of people watched 20th-century Eugenicist movements play out and thought, “what if we did that to ourselves?” So in a sense the problem is solving itself, the rest of us just have to hold the line until it plays out. How?"

 

I've said something like this for a while when it comes to abortion.   (I feel like I just say an Arynne Wexler clip making this point as well) But it's good to see someone expand on it.   

When?

 Every time I open Blogger, I am faced with 7 comments from Dan which date back to Oct 1.   They're there because Dan refuses to do as he's been asked.  I've been extending Dan the grace of not simply aborting his comments, while he's chosen not to embrace the grace he prates on about.  

So, at what point do I simply abort all 7 of Dan's comments and assume that he has no interest in civil exchange?   

"No Good"

 "The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. As that unhappy poet A. E. Housman put it:
For Nature, heartless, witless Nature
Will neither know nor care.
DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music."

Dawkins literally wrote the book which underpins most, if not all, of modern Darwinist/Materialist/Naturalist/Atheist thought.    

FAFA

Last week a video was going around of a young woman engaged with a TPUSA speaker, which ended in her reciting a poem celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk.  The TPUSA host was respectful and polite as the young woman ran away gleefully.   The young woman got her 15 minutes of internet fame, and it wasn't what he thought it would be.  In short, she FA'd and FO.   Things went badly once she was identified and negative consequences followed.   It's easy to be edgy and fringe when your university ecosystem of leftists makes you feel safe.  Unfortunately, the broader world sometimes isn't the liberal cocoon of a university campus.  

 

 https://x.com/lagsignal/status/2116728763182445011?s=51

 " Issa Kassahuga's apology video is the perfect autopsy of one of the most sickening phenomena in contemporary culture: the dehumanization of the political opponent fueled on university campuses and the immediate panic when the reality of the adult world demands payment. To understand the weight of this statement, one must look at what happened before the recording. On September 23, at an event on the University of Texas at San Antonio campus, the student took the microphone in front of conservative activist Christian Collins to publicly mock and gloat over the unimaginable loss and pain of widow Erika Kirk and her orphaned children. In that moment, buoyed by the easy applause of the university bubble and the arrogance of someone who believes themselves morally superior, she thought that mocking an adversary's death was a demonstration of political virtue. What changed between that September day and this formal apology recorded with a measured voice and downcast eyes? What changed was the relentless arrival of reality. The video of the aggression went viral on social media, public opinion revolted against the cowardice, the university board opened disciplinary investigations, and future employers saw the student's name associated with the mockery of a grieving family. The doors of the job market and civil life began to close at record speed. Suddenly, the ruthless militant who gloated over widows and orphans discovers "humility," appeals to "Christian faith," recalls "human dignity," and publicly begs for a "second chance at life." The apology text was meticulously crafted by lawyers and crisis management advisors. Every word about compassion and respect sounds like a memorized script to contain legal damages and try to save a career destroyed before it even began. In the spiritual realm, forgiveness is a commandment, and it falls to the offended family to grant it if they deem it sincere. But in the social and institutional realm, the lesson must be harsh and permanent. For years, academic indoctrination taught an entire generation that political violence and mockery of others' deaths were legitimate, as long as the target was a conservative. Young people were raised in the dangerous fantasy that militancy guarantees total immunity against the laws of decency and human empathy. The San Antonio case is a lesson for all of Western youth: you can curse and celebrate tragedies inside the university greenhouse. But when you step onto the asphalt of real life, the bill for your lack of character always arrives, and it doesn't accept payment in rehearsed apologies. "It's so easy to gloat over a widow's pain when your classmates are applauding. The desperation of humility only shows up when the reputation bill knocks on the door of the real world." -Mooska"