Introduction:

It is difficult to be happy or compassionate if one is overburdened with obligations and negative emotions.

Jesus prods his listeners to break the chains that burden us and make us unhappy.  He targets religious and family obligations.  He targets perfectionism and guilt.

 

With his statements on eating non-kosher food and disobeying Sabbath rules, Jesus is overturning obedience to religious rules.

To Jesus, the Sabbath is a day of rest not a day to follow rules. The Sabbath rest day is meant for us to do as we please; it is meant to serve us rather than a day of religious obligations.

To Jesus, compassion in eating the food offered by your host takes precedence over all the multitude of Torah rules on what you should not eat.

More controversially, Jesus targets all family obligations with harsh quotes such as “Let the dead bury the dead”.

A universal burden of humanity is perfectionism and guilt.  Jesus shows a way to eliminate perfectionism and guilt.

Jesus does not ask us to avoid vices. He does not ask us to be “good”.  He does not ask us to obey rules.  As long as what we do is compatible with love and compassion, Jesus allows it.

With the parable of the seven returning demons Jesus is saying to keep our little faults.  No more new years resolutions.  We will likely replace the small fault with a worse one, so keep the small fault.  Forget about getting rid of faults.

When we do make mistakes and hurt others, Jesus shows the way to obtain forgiveness (see Way 7).

 

The Sayings of Jesus:

My Yoke is Easy

Matthew 11: 28-30

28 Come to me, all you who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest! 29 Take my yoke on you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble, and ‘you will find rest for your souls’; 30 for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

Jesus and the Sabbath

Mark 2: 23-27

23 One Sabbath, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples began to pick the ears of wheat as they went along.

24 “Look!” the Pharisees said to him, “why are they doing what is not allowed on the Sabbath?” …

27 Then Jesus added: “The Sabbath was made for people, and not people for the Sabbath;

Jesus and Food

Mark 7: 14-15

14 Then Jesus called the people to him again, and said: “Listen to me, all of you, and mark my words.

15 There is nothing external to a person, which by going into them can ‘defile’ them; but the things that come out of a person are the things that defile them.”

Jesus and Family Obligations

Luke 9: 59-60

To another man Jesus said: “Follow me.”

“Let me first go and bury my father,” said the man. 60 But Jesus said: “Leave the dead to bury their dead;

Who Is My Mother?

Mark 3: 32-35

32 There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and some of them said to him: “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.”

33 “Who is my mother? And my brothers?” was his reply. 34 Then he looked around on the people sitting in a circle around him, and said: “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Parable of the Returning Demons

Luke 11: 24-26

24 No sooner does a foul spirit leave someone, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest; and finding none, it says ‘I will go back to the home which I left’;

25 but, on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

26 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that person proves to be worse than the first.”

Stories and Commentary:

Parable of the Returning Demons:

When I first read the section “My Way is Easy” in Matthew I did not believe it.  To me religion has always been hard. It tells me to do things I do not want to do.  So I began testing each passage as to whether it would make my life easier or not.  My first shock was with the parable of the returning demons. Could Jesus really be telling me to keep my faults?   It was such a shocking conclusion that I at first did not believe it.  Really?  No more New Years Eve resolutions?

It slowly dawned on me that working on getting rid of faults is a form of self centered pride that makes me feel “better” than others.  It gives me that “holier than thou” feeling.  It takes me away from relating to others and takes me away from enjoying the moment.

That is until I relapse.  The New Year Eves resolution usually eventually gets broken.  Then I feel guilt and disappointment in myself.

So the parable of the returning demons gives me permission to accept my imperfections; to accept myself as the imperfect being that I am.