Jesus' most important teaching.

[Elijah John]

What is Jesus most important teaching?

a) That Jesus came to die in order to "pay for" the sins of humanity?
b) That God is our loving and merciful Heavenly Father*, who expects us to show the same good will towards others?
c) Anything else?

(* Please, do not construe advocacy for this option to mean "God is a permissive, anything goes Father", as some here have done in the past.)

If importance is highlighted by emphasis, and emphasis by repetition, which teaching is most emphasized by Jesus?

And remember, the OP seeks to determine what is Jesus' most important teaching, not Paul's.

[Elijah John]

Do you think John's emphasis on "believing in Jesus" (whatever that means) outweighs Jesus emphasis in the Synoptics on how YHVH is a loving and merciful Father?

If His most often spoken message was indeed that YHVH is a loving and merciful Father, how does that conflict with the need to put one's faith in Him as saviour?

I stand on the rule that scripture cannot contradict scripture. HIS love cannot contradict the need for faith. Nor can His death as atonement contradict love. To my mind, the Passover story is a love story though it involves death, both sacrificial and judgmental. So is the offering of Isaac: Gen 22:7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

GOD provides the sacrifice is as old as the start of the religion.

Reza Aslan was investigating Voodoo on CNN tonight, and pointed out (just as they were about to sacrifice a goat) that animal sacrifice is one of the oldest religious rituals. But the antiquity of a practice does not automatically confer legitimacy on that practice. So..

Also, where do you get that rule "Scripture cannot contradict Scripture"? Sounds like circular reasoning to me, with no basis in fact. Scripture often does contradict Scripture, and in some very major ways.

This has been demonstrated to you, to JWs, to Evangelicals...over and over and over again here on these boards. But apologist and literalist counterarguments and attempts at rebuttal (in the face of clear evidence of contradiction) amount to little more than: "no it doesn't, that's not a contradiciton" !

[ttruscott]

GOD provides the sacrifice is as old as the start of the religion.

Yet...nothing to say about this?

[tam]

Peace to you!


C)... all of them.


I don't know how we pick one teaching over another. If He said (or says) it, it is important.


If I were to choose, then I suppose:

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."



If one understands that Christ is the Truth (and the Way and the Life), then one will understand to believe Him and His words, in all things. One will not take another's word OVER His (including one's own word or reason or belief). Because no one and nothing else is the Truth, except for Christ. Not religion, not men, not Paul, not the Bible.

Just Christ.

He is the one we are to listen (as God also said: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him.")


Another would be:

"If you knew me, you would know my Father also."


If people believed the above, they might also understand that God is as Christ reveals Him to be. God is not as religion depicts Him, or as men depict Him, or as Israel depicted Him, or as even the Bible depicts Him. God is as Christ shows Him to be.



**

So all of His words are important.


We don't pick which of His words we think are important and ignore the ones that we don't think are important. They are all important, including the words that He speaks to us even now, if indeed we are His sheep, for His sheep hear His voice. (as He also said)


So yes, showing us the mercy and love of His Father is important. Teaching us that the greatest commands are to love God with our whole heart, body, mind... and to love our neighbor as ourselves... is important. Commanding that we love one another as He loves us... is important. Telling us to wash one another's feet is important. Telling us to eat and drink of His body and blood is important. People sometimes look for the most 'important' things, and think that by following that, they're doing what they should be doing. But then they are forgetting that Christ also said this:

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much Luke 16:10




Peace to you, and to your households,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[JehovahsWitness]

Scripture often does contradict Scripture, and in some very major ways.

This statement is false. As I have demonstrated, hundreds of times in the pages of this forum, scripture never contradicts scripture. Scripture sometimes contradicts erroneous interpretations of scripture, but the bible is completely harmoneous.



JW

[Willum]

Jesus' most important teaching - those that can be applied on Earth!

Do unto others...
Render to the god Caesar...
Obey the pagan government of Rome...
Don't molest tax collectors...

any others?

[onewithhim]

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?� He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment." Matthew 22:36, 37

To love the Almighty God was Jesus' most important teaching. Every teaching hangs on loving Jehovah with everything we have.

And that is very compatible with Jesus' teaching of God as loving Father. But that is the greatest commandment. What is Jesus' own greatest teaching? The one he seems to have emphasized most?

Jesus' teaching was always about the superiority of his Father and how he, Jesus, relied on Him for everything. Everything he said was in line with that.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to Elijah John]

No mention of the name "Jehovah" in this verse. The text in the Greek is Theon or Lord the God NOT Jehovah.

That elimination of YHWH from the Greek text is attributed to scribes in the 3rd century deleting the Tetragrammaton and substituting "Kyrios." Do some research.

[bjs]

What is Jesus most important teaching?

If importance is highlighted by emphasis, and emphasis by repetition, which teaching is most emphasized by Jesus?

Repent. The Kingdom of God is at hand.

This was how the gospel writers summed up Jesus' message before getting into the details (Mathew 3:17, Mark 1:15), and it was far and away the most common topic of Jesus' parables.

[dio9]

What is Jesus most important teaching?

a) That Jesus came to die in order to "pay for" the sins of humanity?
b) That God is our loving and merciful Heavenly Father*, who expects us to show the same good will towards others?
c) Anything else?

(* Please, do not construe advocacy for this option to mean "God is a permissive, anything goes Father", as some here have done in the past.)

If importance is highlighted by emphasis, and emphasis by repetition, which teaching is most emphasized by Jesus?

And remember, the OP seeks to determine what is Jesus' most important teaching, not Paul's.

the answer is .

The kingdom of God is at hand was what Jesus preached through the Galilean countryside. Galilee was ripe for that kind of message . What his message meant to Galileans was liberation from Roman rule . The idea resonated deep in the heart of Galileans . Theirs was a belief the land was God's land and any other tenant or occupier need be driven out even by force and there was much rebellion in the heart of Galileans. They followed Jesus because they believed he was a Messiah who would be successful. Jesus' message was a threat to Herod and Rome behind him. Jesus message was also a threat to the Priests and Sadducee class in Jerusalem who were appointed and served under Rome.
What was Jesus' message? It was a threat to the political and social order.
Jesus was crucified because of his message, which was more than just love your neighbor. Jesus may have been a Zealot.

[McCulloch]

"Repent"