More Thoughts
Another thing I've been contemplating is: What does this mean for how you should live your life? Jesus says, love God and love one another. This above all things... on this everything else is based. He taught that many of the ... rituals of following the law were not really that important - that it is what is inside - that it is loving God and one's neighbor. Then, shall we "judge for [ourselves] what is right" (Luke 12:57)? Or shall we strictly follow Jesus' actions as the perfect role model? And he certainly makes judgments - or statements of what is right - about some things. He says, for instance, that one should only divorce in cases of infidelity... This I don't agree with - and I can't imagine Jesus sticking to it either if, say, a woman is being regularly beaten by her drunken husband... although perhaps he would recommend trying to reform the husband and the marriage before saving the wife from it.
So this is another thing I will look closely at and, I think, write more extensively about, when I collect all my notes into usable form. You know, at the beginning (the first 19 chapters of Genesis), I copied down the verses or parts of verses that I thought were interesting - since then, I've just written down where to find them with whatever comments I have about them... and, at some point, I'm going to have to put the quotations in. (Then, I'm going to label each note with a category and sort by category... I'm such a nerd, I know).
Anyways, a big question (on aforementioned topic) is whether we should leave behind the customs that Jesus still upheld, by word and/or action. Such as keeping the Passover and (though not to ridiculous extremes) the Sabbath; such as fidelity and the institution of marriage. There are others. But the point is, should we follow what he said and did about concrete, ritualistic or institutionalized things, or should we think for ourselves and make judgments about what is right based on the two fundamental commandments? Shoot, I have a lot to say but I should hold off until I'm saying it all, in a more organized and well-thought-out fashion.
If the Israelites were childlike and thus could not be given a fully developed/mature moral code, how are we to know that we have reached adulthood and not just adolescence? Perhaps the code we have been left with now is simply one step farther, and not the ultimate goal. In order to move beyond it, then, we have to ask ourselves, what is the natural extension? In what direction is this leading? Or should we assume that we are too immature to figure it out, and follow what we have been given until something else comes along?
Just hoping to make you think. Would love to hear your thoughts - as always.