The reason why our world is not prepared to meet the real Jesus is because of the pervasive influence of pluralism. So formidable is this influence on the popular mind that even Jesus has been recast as a prophet of this new god. The fact remains that the Jesus of Scripture bears little likeness to this new Jesus. The real Jesus, the authentic Jesus, the authoritative but compassionate Jesus, the Jesus who confronts the world, is quite frankly a divisive Jesus.

Knowing God in a world that does not know God, though costly, is infinitely to be preferred disciples of Jesus is not the desire to have a better life now, but the importance of living now in the light of the judgment and vindication to come. Without this eschatological perspective (as it is called), the claims and demands of the gospel of the kingdom make no sense at all.

The fact that Jesus ministered equally to the outcast woman and the leading elder of the synagogue certainly reveals His divine impartiality.

So it becomes extremely important for us to listen to Scripture and to try to articulate the gospel as accurately as possible, to articulate the mission of Jesus. If we succeed in listening to the Scripture on these points, we shall be preserved from the vagaries of every passing theology; more, we shall better grasp the very heart of the faith we profess.

The real Jesus regularly turns out to be unpredictable, unnegotiable, and when there is a real encounter with him, unavoidable.

Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and that the second greatest is, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37, 39). In Jesus’ teaching it is absolutely clear, the second will never be obeyed without the first: we will never love our neighbors in the way we would like to be loved until we love God with heart and soul and mind.

The point of these two verses is not that we should be moderate in our judging in order that others will be moderate toward us, but rather that we should abolish judgmental attitudes lest we ourselves stand utterly condemned before God. Some rabbis said that God had two measures by which he assessed men, the measure of justice and the measure of mercy.

Jesus points out that the place we choose for our treasures tells something about ourselves. He does not describe treasure in any way, but clearly it means here that which one prizes most, that which one values above all else. The place where we choose to store up what we value most shows what our values are deep down.

There are several different kinds of hypocrisy. One hypocrite fakes goodness but is actually evil, like those who tried to “catch” Jesus in things he said (Matt. 22:15ff.). Such hypocrites know they are being deceptive. Another kind of hypocrisy, the hypocrite is puffed up with his own importance and self-righteousness. Blind to his own faults, he may be genuinely unaware that he is hypocritical—even though he is very harsh toward other people and their sins. Jesus discusses such hypocrites in Matthew 7:1–5,

Our generation treats sin lightly. Sin in our society is better thought of as aberration, or as illness. It is to be treated, not condemned and repented of; and it must not be suppressed for fear of psychological damage.