The real meaning of "Love your enemy".

Originally posted by sk0rpi0n
reply to post by DelayedChristmas

 

Actually, I think Jesus said this specifically because of the people he was talking to; This message would be best relatable to the people receiving the message, who I think was mainly the common, poor layman, when it was first said. Since the common man has aspirations to acquire wealth, whether it be for selfish or unselfish reasons, Jesus took this visible aspiration and made it an aspiration for the invisible.

Thats a fair point.
But Jesus did however point towards rewards and treasures in the afterlife.
The message of "love your enemy" also came with a statement that there is no reward in merely loving those who love you back.

Even if Jesus uses the words "treasures" as a motivation for his followers, it doesn't negate the fact that there are indeed treasures for those who obey his commands. Jesus showed people a way to live... a way that ensures these "treasures" in the afterlife.

I'd say, one of his main teachings was to not indulge too much in the material world.... and stay focused on the next world.

Whether it be metaphorical or literal treasures in and for the literal or figurative Heaven, figurative heaven being a reference to what Jesus said about the kingdom of God being within an individual or the heart, we have yet to see. Methinks its a combination of both, like you have basically said.

Yes, I think one of the main teachings of Jesus was to not stay in the material world, but I think it's more than that. I think he was saying not to stay in the three dimensional perspective, not necessarily focus on the next world or milestone in one's life. I think he was trying to say to transcend above the norms of mankind.

reply to post by DelayedChristmas


What is seen by us is the world and nothing can be gained from the world.
The material world is made of what is experienced, it is what is known.

The heaven that Jesus spoke of is the spirit world, not the 'next' world. Heaven is where the world is seen from.
People look 'out into the world' and forget what it is that is doing the looking.
Look to what is looking and there is the heaven you seek.
This experience is made of something and nothing, the something is what is being seen and the bit that sees is overlooked, forgotten, missed completely, shrugged off, dismissed as irrelevent. But it is written that 'The truth is hidden in plain sight' - in the plain act of seeing?

When looking deeply into oneself one finds nothing there. And that nothing is heaven (pure spirit).
youtu.be...

What value does it place upon love if we are taught to love our enemies?

Originally posted by Nevertheless
So what you are saying is that God created this fantastic world so that you, if you happen to live in misery (being pushed down, having a lot of enemies), you should just accept everything, turn the other cheek and be in pain your whole life, to be rewarded AFTER this world?
Then what is the point of this world? Just to show God's power, and God using it by torturing poor people and see if they'll stay nice.

Is your God a self-loving cruel idiot?

This world is only 'fantastic' to only 5% of all the world's population, even less.

In reality, we live in a cruel world. The only way you belong to that few 5% is that you blindly exploit those 95%. All money comes from exploitation of the less fortunate.