The Journal of Biblical Accuracy

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A straight look at some of the "hard sayings" of Jesus

It is amazing, but in many western churches we hear so little of what the Lord Himself taught and especially of what many have branded as "hard sayings". However, these sayings are hard only if we try to explain them wearing the glasses of a doctrine that wants salvation to be the result not of a continuing, living faith but of a static, once upon a time faith, that is also allowed to be unfruitful. Then yes, these sayings are very hard to understand. If however we remove these glasses then the sayings of the Lord become very clear and obvious.

Before we move further into what the Lord said, I need to say that some have discounted the Lord’s sayings under the theory that they do not refer to us, but to Jews living under the law. Thus they classify His sayings to a par little above the Old Testament, and in any case not at all as relevant to us as the epistles, creating like this an artificial antithesis between what the Lord said and what His very disciples said. But as we will see in this study there is no such antithesis. What the Lord said and what His apostles taught are in absolute harmony with each other. Nevertheless and for those familiar with this view, in the second appendix of this study I look at it in more detail, demonstrating why I believe it is false. But let’s go on to what the Lord said.

The parable of the unfaithful servant

The parable of the ten virgins

The parable of the talents

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink

The parable of the debtor of the ten thousand talents

To the one who overcomes

A straight look at some of the "hard sayings" of Jesus: Conclusion

 

Author: Anastasios Kioulachoglou