God and the Father in heaven...

 God and the Father in heaven...

God, never bothering to be described or defined, was taken for granted, presumed from the beginning of the Bible. 

He was and is said to be the origin of everything, the provider and protector etc. However, He was kept far from ordinary people who are branded as sinners and hence, unworthy to approach Him,  making the mediation of priests necessary. 

Maybe this God was a creation of priests from time immemorial. And this God needed to be kept pleased with offerings, sacrifices and rituals.

But prophets rose to question this priestly, ritualistic approach and insist on His justice and mercy.  Thereafter kings came in support of the priests, even claiming priestly roles. This too was resisted by the prophets who were suppressed and oppressed jointly by the above two categories.

Jesus came in the line of prophets as his Nazareth manifesto reveals (Lk 4:16-21) and as the Samaritan woman testifies (Jn 4:19) and the people have known him (Mt 16:13-14). 

He claimed to be above the law and prophets: "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. (Mt 5: 17).

In his fulfilling mission he brought God closer without any need for mediation, calling him Father in heaven (6:9). 

Being born into a patriarchal society, he presented God as a father. Everyone knows that someone to become a father needs a mother. That way God can't but be father and mother. And this God provides for everything, everyone as seen in Mt 6:25-33.

And listening to Jesus, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. Mt 7: 28-29.

Can't understand a god in need of supplications, offerings, sacrifices etc. This can't be anything other than an easy way of priestly self-service, fooling people, keeping them in their ignorance. This is perpetuated by an exploitative,  merciless and oppressive priestly system, hand in glove with the ruling aristocracy...

He objected and resisted such attitudes through gestures like keeping the tax collectors and  sinners closer as seen in Mt 9:10-11 and chasing the ones trading in the temple, saying: "...Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade."(Jn 2: 13-16).

His categorical teachings like, "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mk 10: 42-45. And "... If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. (Jn 13: 14). And 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (Jn 12: 24).

As for wealth and possession too he was outright too: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mt 6: 29-21).

Also, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.(Mt 6: 24). And "...Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. (Lk 9: 3). '... Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. (Lk 10: 4). And "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." (Lk 9: 58).

The foremost commandment against idolatry, the priestly class itself made all possible idols of Him with accompanying rituals and what not!

To conclude...

Jesus' core and categorical teachings were watered down to suit the interest of a new priestly class initiated in the Letter to the Hebrews, making him a high priest in the order of Melchizedek who is said to have no father or mother!

Jesus overcame death and rose again, ever to be with his disciples, later called Christians and now claiming to be the Church with as many denominations as possible, each claiming continuity and what not! 

Here, a saying comes to mind, whose author i don't remember now: "Jesus was a crocodile and the Church was built up on it. And the crocodile went down, for the Church alone to be seen!" 

Now, the'Jesus before Christianity', a book by Albert Nolan, has to be found for an authentic discipleship with all its costs, even to lay down his/her life, if necessary.

Thanks. [Posted in FB yesterday, 23.09.2025]