The Face Of Jesus

Sometimes it's easy to just quote something from somewhere and use it as an evidence. Maybe can try to 'think between the lines'. Even Jesus spoke in parables.
The disciples came to him and asked,"Why do you speak to the people in parables?"Jesus replied,"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."---Matthew 13:10-12. Why not raised some doubts and clarify with the seniors of the church? There are lots of wisdom to be learned from the Bible.

From the Old Testament, I agree there are lots of laws and rules. The name of God strikes fear among the commons. Remember when Moses descended from the mountain his body was glowing in God's glory? Everyone was afraid to go near him. How could they forgot that when God is with them there will always be 1) fire 2) thunder... What about the rules for the priests to perform rituals to God? Phew... there are so many... and it's not common for a priest to die while performing a ritual to God. In short.. to 'lower' people, God is unapproachable, fierce, rigid and too-high-a-leader to follow. I also found the Old Testament 'too holy' for my liking.

Here comes the New Testament. Hey somebody called Jesus appeared. He claimed to be the son of God. Hoho! A living God among the commons? This guy did no wrong (at least according to the Bible)... and a lot of 'different' things. To all the Pharisees and Sadducees (Even now I still don't know what are their roles in society, but Jesus often call them hypocrites), what the 'different' things that Jesus did was against the law of God. Huuh? Son against the Father?
Jesus ate with tax collectors and 'sinners'.--- Matthew 9:11
There was once during Sabbath that Jesus disciples were hungry and pick some corns to eat.
"Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful in the Sabbath." the Pharisees said.
Jesus answered,"Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the House of God, and he and his companions ate the consecreated bread-- which is unlawful for them to do, but only for the priest..... I tell you that one greater than the temple is here..... I desire mercy, not sacrifice."--- Matthew 12:1-7
Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him"Is it lawful to heal on Sabbath?"
Jesus said,"If any of your sheep falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuble is a man than a sheep!"--- Matthew 12:10-12
Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus and asked,"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"........... Jesus said,"What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'."--- Matthew 15:2-11
Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked,"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"
Jesus answered,".... what God has joined together, let no man separate.... Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.--- Matthew 19:3-9
The teachers of the law and Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.
"Teacher (jesus), this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"
Jesus said,"If anyone of you is without sin, let him to be the first to throw a stone at her." When he saw no one condemned her, Jesus said,"Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."--- John 8:32

As you can see.... the Old Testament is very different from the New. I believe that the reason that there are so many sets of rules for people to follow and punishments to be done is because God is TOO HOLY. Hence Jesus came.. to act as a bridge between us and God. One of my church teacher once remarked,"If we must follow the Old Testament... everybody will go to Hell." Jesus came to preach healing, mercy, compassion, love and sacrfices. If one read the Bible literally... then Jesus's parables will be like little children's stories. But there are lots of hidden meanings behind them. Whether or not you want to use the Bible as a benchmark for setting laws... it's up to you.

And I believed incest is BAD.

Hope you are at least a bit enlightened. I'm not at all a devoted Christian either... so got doubts it's better to approach the wiser ones in church.

** Above extracts are mostly from Matthew because I feel that they are more than enough. For more information can refer to the Bible. Please read both the Old and New Testament.

Cheers.