Luke 6.37-38

"Pass no judgement, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Acquit, and you will be acquitted. Give, and gifts will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap; for whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt to you in return."

Will this be on The Exam?

Jesus' message here is being packaged as a new 'covenant', to a First Century Jewish ear... but what's in it for us 21st Century goyim?

Is this our Ticket to Heaven (Make sure you've got one when you die? Because if you don't, God will be really sad... not to mention you?) Well, Jesus has so far said nothing whatsoever in this book about anything of the sort.

There is, of course, the Jewish (Pharisee) doctrine of the resurrection, which Jesus apparently shared, as presented in Daniel & the Maccabee books. (Once Jews had encountered persecution & martyrdom for their religion, this previously tacit issue had become a serious concern to them.)

Since this doctrine included a Judgement, to separate the martyrs from their persecutors, and reward them both accordingly... that too became a popular element of both Christianity and Islam.

Especially the part about Eternal Torment for those annoying friends of yours. This has been a powerful incentive for conversion... but has also worked to discredit the very idea of God. And so, over the years, it has been softened in the public mind to something like: ~"God doesn't care what you believe, so long as you've been A Good Person."

In so far as what you believe affects what you do and who you become, I expect that it does matter. But God is hardly in a rush to tell you about anything you don't care about, and there is plenty of time.

The crux of this all, as I see it, is that God is compassionate. Eternal punishment is not. Neither does it make sense for God to make "His" favor contingent on getting The Right Answer. If you want to know how things be, ask! And be prepared to find yourself answered in some way.

[Recently reading The Science of Diskworld, I picked up a handy phrase for a concept I've always found useful: "lies-to-children". A "teacher" is a "liar-to-children" because, after all, a simple, partial truth is a whole lot more use to a child than either being left in pure ignorance, or given a bewildering full explanation. And it's been a Quaker commonplace, from our beginnings, that "God is here to teach us 'Himself'". Just remember, while you're learning, that whatever you've learned may be subject to overwhelming attacks of Changing Perspective, with luck.]

So the main reason I can see, that we're still being advised to do as Jesus says here-- is that nothing else makes any sense. We really are part of the same Mind as everyone else; we can't harm them without harming ourselves; and there's no one but God worthy of our anger. You have a right to be angry at God... but if you are, which of you is more likely to be right?

Luke 6.32-36

"If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even sinners love those who love them. Again, if you do good only to those who do good to you, what difference does that make? Even sinners do as much. And if you lend only where you expect to be repaid, how does that matter? Even sinners lend to each other if they expect to be repaid in full.

"But you must love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without expecting any return; and then you will have a rich reward; for you will be true children of the Most High, who is Himself kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate."

Does This Mean...?

Yes, it does. This is what allegiance to Jesus, "to a person rather than a list of regulations", is supposed to look like.

Does it apply to personal quarrels? Or to international conflicts? Yes.

Do we take these rules "literally"? Well, obviously, you obey someone best by understanding his meaning, not by ignoring him and slavishly complying with his literal statements.

"Turn the other cheek" is said to mean: "If someone insults you with a backhanded slap, offer him the cheek he would hit directly, thereby admitting that whether or not he likes you, he can't dismiss you as a basically equal being." Sometimes it probably means that.

"Treat others as you would like them to treat you;" that's more complex than it sounds. Do you really want people to let you walk all over them? Sometimes you really need (& would even want, if you only knew) to have someone you've been dismissing set you back and tell you what's what.

God loves everybody, and we are told to be like God in that way...  God's way is to give us slack enough to see where our way leads; but other times God finishes with that & brings on the consequences. While continually forgiving.

We aren't supposed to "just" act this way, muttering under our breath how good we're being, while looking forward to seeing our enemy's karma repossessed some day.

Whatever enmity lies between people, it isn't as important as God's love for them. How you embody that... may look like "love", or it might look like anger. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to cultivate a sincere wish for their true good.

But To You Who Hear Me I Say (Luke 6.27-31

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who treat you spitefully.

"When a man hits you on the cheek, offer him the other cheek too; when a man takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well.

"Give to everyone who asks you; when a man takes what is yours, do not demand it back.

"Treat others as you would like them to treat you."