John 14:6
Jesus is Truth
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Luke 6:27-36
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 18:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Matthew 7:1-6
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.
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.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
I am most comfortable around those I love...I like to be around those who share my views and my ideals...I can be quite uncomfortable around others, who are not so similar with me and do not like to do the things I like to do...
Jesus teaches about LOVE and Truth...He does not teach about comparing what we think about our worldly views and ideals to others...Comparing oneself with others is not something Jesus teaches...In fact, He seems to teach against that in the Parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee...I am not sure that He teaches tolerance either...Tolerance of others is not the same as love...He does not teach us that love is those that take our particular point of view...
My wife and I have been walking in our town and we have been seeing people that are doing their community service, while dressed in orange...That is good, but my thoughts are not the thoughts of love as we watch them work...And when we go on vacation and I see homeless people, I think of Jesus, and what He teaches...I feel this discomfort, I was first talking about, around certain people...And I know comfort means little to Him, in the scheme of LOVE, life, and what He teaches...And everything I read in the gospels is that He teaches LOVE and forgiveness...
What is strange when I read the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, I see the issue that Jesus brings up and how the Pharisee is comparing himself with what he views as a lowly tax collector...I can relate this story to His different teachings about being a neighbor, and what a neighbor is ..The Pharisee is certainly not being very neighborly...The way the Pharisee talks, it does not seem that he loves his neighbor, the tax collector...And I very much feel sympathy for the tax collector...The Pharisee is somewhat saying, I am better than you, because you are a tax collector...But in the real world, my feelings toward the tax collector are not being transferred to others...Oh, I can tolerate those who cause me my discomfort, but that is not love at all...Being tolerant of others is not love...I know that I am being very much judgmental, and that is not something He teaches either...He teaches something very different on judging...And judging, like tolerance, is not love...
Jesus, in His teachings, teaches a lot about loving others and loving even our enemies...He teaches much about loving our neighbors...He teaches us that our neighbors is not me, and may not be like me...The Samaritan was certainly not like Him and the other Jews that He taught...The Samaritan was a group of people that the Jewish people despised...They did not share the Jewish point of view...And yet, the example He uses in one of His teachings on love and neighbors -is about a Samaritan...In this Parable He teaches us to love your neighbor as yourself...And the neighbor is a despised Samaritan...One who probably made some Jewish people feel uncomfortable to be around...It is easy to love family and friends and those we are comfortable with...It is much harder to love those that make us uncomfortable and those that don't share our own ideals and views...Our neighbor in Jesus' eyes are not the ones we handpick to be around and agree with us...Our neighbor is an individual with their own thoughts and their own views and ideals...Jesus does not teach us just to tolerate our neighbor, and He does not say a neighbor will make us feel comfortable...A neighbor is the one who can show a mercy and love toward another (and not just those we feel comfortable being around)...
What He teaches is sometimes hard, but it is the Truth for He is Truth...Love is much like Truth...Truth is not always neatly packaged...Truth maybe comfortable or it may not be comfortable...Truth maybe tolerant or it may not be tolerant...But Truth is always merciful, always forgiving, and always full of LOVE...And we can see that when we follow and study Him...
But their is a Jesus Way...Jesus LOVES everyone...Jesus does teach that one has to have the same views and ideals...He believes in even love of one's enemies...And to even to pray for them...He LOVES everyone, and some may disagree with Him...But if you believe in Him, them He is the Key to God and to eternal life...