Morality can be viewed through five difference windows, harm, reciprocity, ingroup, hierarchy, and purity. Such windows into a given moral worldview are pretty commonly described throughout the Old Testament. In contrast, I fully believe the words of Christ tend to reorganize and even cast significant aspects of such windows aside.
Having come across some really funky eisigesis in my noon readings today, where in the author tried to toss any number of Jesus teachings to the wind… I was left wondering why and how this can happen. In a lot of ways, I think the author was so tied into a specific moral world view, that he couldn’t tolerate what Jesus had to say. As such, the only way he could even listen to the message of Christ was to take some rather extreme eisegesis.
Lets roll on through some of the moral windows.
Harm/Welfare/Care
In the Old Testament times, folks were to set aside part of their tithe for the poor, likewise the harvest was not to be 100%, parts were to be set aside such that the poor could glean them. Jesus went much further, with his emphasis on individual service and blessings to the orphans, the widows, and the poor.
Justice/Rights/Fairness
Likewise, justice, rights, and fairness were also significant teachings of Jesus. His direct focus on the least of these, the prisoners, and the oppressed, no doubt threw many a wrench into the people that heard him. Yes, prophets in the OT preached justice time and time again, and Sodom was blown away for its lack of justice and concern for the poor… but still no one listened, much less acted.
Group Loyalty
Jesus aggravated the people of Israel in a huge way more than a few times. Folks wanted a revolutionary to rise up against the Romans… what they got was a revolution against their own. What they got was Jesus who crossed the lines to Romans, to Gentiles, and to Samaritans. For those he called, there was almost always a significant cost… they had to leave their group, their families, their wealth, their safety behind.
Respect for Authority, Hierarchy
Jesus upended this most spectacularly with his emphasis on service, and the inversion of rewards and the power structure, much to the chagrin of the leaders of that day. Likewise, he put many leaders and authorities in the hot seat time and time again.
Purity, Sexuality, Food, and Religious Law
Jesus likewise upended the purity laws, whether it be healing on the Sabbath, eating food on the Sabbath, or hanging out with those who would have been considered unclean. Most assuredly for those who had put a stake down in this sector of morality, Jesus must have been anathama to them being viewed as a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” Yes, he did come down on divorce, and adultery… but he seemed to come down a whole lot harder on greed, and the religious laws and practices of the day.
The Eisegesis Guy Once Again
Getting back to the eisegesis guy… he put exceedingly high values on ingroup, hierarchy, and in some of his other writings on purity. With such an extreme focus in those arenas, its no wonder his worldview did not allow him to consider that Jesus would even speak of harm, much less justice in regards to morality.
