| Ok. Two terms:
Mesiras Nefesh
Although rare, there are instances within Jewish law that mandate a Jew to sacrifice his or her own life rather than violate a religious prohibition. In these situations, this phenomenon of mandatory self-sacrifice overrides the ordinarily stringent counter-demand to transgress any religious restrictions in order to preserve human life.
Pikuach Nefesh (Hebrew: פיקוח נפש, "saving of human life") is the principle in Jewish law that the saving of a human life is paramount, overriding virtually any other religious consideration. When the life of a specific human being is in danger, almost any negative commandment of the Torah may be broken, with just three exceptions.
Idolatry
Sexual Immorality
Murder
Ok. Think about this with me. Let's just say that Jesus KNEW about both Mesiras Nefesh and
Pikuach Nefesh, at least in principle of being a part of Jewish law. Can we see Jesus teaching about any of these? Let's see...
Idolatry
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight.
Sexual Immorality
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Murder
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come and offer your gift.
Hmmmm... 
Jesus seems to hold Pikuach Nefesh and Mesiras Nefesh in almost unbearable tension for ANY person more grounded in conventional wisdom and self-centeredness.
Long story short...By bringing these 3 exceptional sins to the INNER LIFE OF THE "HEART" (It's not what goes into a man that defiles, but what comes out of a man, etc. ) instead of attempted outward conformity, he basically forced the issue of "self-sacrifice" being a LOT less "rare" that many people of his day (and ours) thought reasonable or desirable. Basically, he revealed the untransformed heart to be pretty much continual purveyors of idolatry, covetness, and malice. At the same time, he NEVER LET UP on the "saving human life" at the expense of religious considerations.
Remember this?
Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."
Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
and this...?
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Oh, yeah. I can see why he got on everyone's nerves. 
He took both both Mesiras Nefesh and Pikuach Nefesh to their furthest extremes (which would makes sense for the Messiah, who should be a Tzadik)....and the Jewish religious status quo didn't like it.
Yeah...
Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
Make sense...or am I crazy with this?
Post Edited (One Love) : 12/26/2009 3:48:00 AM (GMT-6) |