GRUNT wrote,
"In all of his life, it seems to me, he reflected love towards everyone he was around"
JOE ALWARD responds:
No, he did NOT seem to love everyone he was around; he called the Pharisees and Sadduccees "vipers," and was angry that they wanted to be baptized and thus saved:
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? (Matthew 3:7)
If Jesus was loving of all mankind, he would have been DELIGHTED to have his enemies show up to be baptized by him, wouldn't he?
Furthermore, Jesus wanted his message of salvation to be HIDDEN from all but the chosen ones, so he spoke in parables, so only the ones he WANTED to be saved would understand his message
. According to the authors of Matthew and Mark, these parables were not meant to be understood by anyone other than "the lost sheep of Israel". Jesus told these parables to prevent the Gentiles from understanding the word of God, and thereby prevent their entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mark Said Jesus' Parables Mystified Outsiders
Following Jesus' parable about the sower of seeds, Mark has Jesus tell his disciples that he wants to make sure only his followers hear the truth and understand the mysteries, while the Gentiles remain in the dark. Mark then tells us that Jesus, when he is alone with his disciples and out of the earshot of unworthy Gentiles, speaks to his disciples directly and without the need for parables. Here is Mark's story:
And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude.....And he taught them many things by parables....And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them... Unto you [his disciples] it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: [in order] that... they...not perceive...and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.....But without a parable spake he not unto [his disciples]: and when they were alone, he expounded ALL THINGS (emphasis added) to his disciples.
(Mark 4:1-34)
You see? Jesus "expounded all things" to his disciples, but kept the salvation message HIDDEN from the gentiles. This is not the act of a man who loves all men. If Jesus loved all men, he would have tried his best to make the message of salvation clear to all men, not just the "chosen ones."
Thus, Mark tells us that Jesus, without speaking in parables, "expounded all things to his disciples". Since Jesus did not want those outside his group of followers to know the mysteries of God, he spoke to them in parables in order that they would not learn that which is necessary to be saved. Mark's view receives support from Paul in a letter he he wrote to church members in Corinth, Greece, a city he chose for evangelizing: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
( 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 )
Thus, Paul is telling the reader that God gives up on those who he believes are lost and hides from them the light of his son's glorious gospel.
Matthew Also Thought Parables Hid God's Message from the Gentiles
The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathering together unto him ....And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because [in this way] they...see not... and hear not, neither do they understand. (Matthew 13:1-13)
Matthew cites scripture to justify his having Jesus hide God's message from the Gentiles: "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive." (Matthew 13:14) The scripture to which Matthew refers is the one in which the command is given to "shut the eyes" of the Gentiles: "And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9-11)
This is not the only time Matthew demonstrates his belief that God's message of salvation was not to be wasted on Gentiles. Matthew has Jesus give his famous speech urging his followers to ignore them : "Go NOT into the way of the Gentiles....but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel....I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ( Matthew 10:7 , Matthew 15:24 ) (Emphasis added)
So, you see? Jesus evidently did NOT love all men. He wanted only a certain class of men to be saved. Not only did Jesus not show any affection for his mother and brother, he outright rejected them at the house where they had come to take charge of him, and he specifically said that he had come to earth not to bring peace, but to turn family members against one another. Jesus was not the all-loving person people would like to believe.
Joseph F. Alward
"A Skeptical View of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html
