Waiting on him
Well-Known Member
For me I can only put this into perspective one way?Was the "good" Samaritan a saint? or did he simply (but righteously) care for others as himself?
The saint must hate his wife, mother, father , brother, sister... in comparison to Christ.
There is NO indicator that to love one's neighbour one must love the Lord more. The saint has a higher purpose. The righteous are far more common.
Given what was going on in the first century in that region. One had to really love Jesus and all he spoke to walk away from all their kinsmen in order to follow him. The parable of the soils is all founded in what was really the state of the heart inside of them. Their entire culture evolved around Judaism.
It took a new kinda heart to walk away from this religion and follow Jesus outside of this culture. Their turning from it 180* meant losing all things. They family that remained in it position, wages, even the bare necessities, as James came too know there at the church in Jerusalem. They were literally starving due to being ostracized.
They never returned to the world they knew. They remained faithful to God in the face of dire adversity. This is a my wife said an all consuming fire that purged all their chaff.
The weeds and thorns were burned away, God removed the stony heart, and cultivated the ground in them where seed was cast and then fruit was received.