“But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one also...” The demands Jesus placed on his followers sometimes seem confusing, distasteful or just too challenging. “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” It can be tempting to gloss over difficult sayings such as these and focus on those that are more palatable. In this course, we will struggle with the most challenging of the instructions of Jesus, with the understanding that with great struggle comes great reward. For each passage, we will acknowledge our objections and discomfort with the text. Then, we will explore various interpretations with the goal of broadening our understanding of who Jesus was and seeing what meaning his sayings can have for our discipleship.
Eric is Pastor of Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church, Winchester, MA
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