To have a mind of Jesus is to see the needs of the people and meet them, but not to ponder on their weaknesses and looking for ways to correct them.
Last week in Pune a six-year-old girl over run by a car bled to death on the busy street of the city. She lay there for two hours bleeding while the mob gathered at the accident site was engaged in assaulting the driver. Nobody cared about taking the girl to the hospital because they were busy punishing the "sinner" driver. By the time the girls parents arrived at the scene, she was lying there dead in a pool of blood.
The mob typifies the behavior of the contemporary world. Love and compassion are over taken by hatred and a false sense of justice. The crowd is more interested meting out justice by punishing the offender while the great need for that helpless girl was not justice but compassion. She needed a Good Samaritan who will rush her to the hospital and save her life. The crowd was keen on taking one more life than saving another. The careless driver has to be arrested and handed over to the police; probably he should not be allowed to drive again if he cannot drive safely. However, that should not be at the cost of a young life.
We raise our voice against unjust economic and social systems and are doing all that we can to change them. However, while we wait for the systems to improve there are thousands of lives that will continue to live in those conditions. What they need is practical involvement, something to be done to change their life before they die their untimely death.
Jesus' focus was on the need of the people and not on eliminating the sinner. He came to eliminate sin and not the sinners. When the woman caught in adultery was brought before him, he let her go. The Jews wanted to kill her. They eliminate sin by eliminating the sinner. Jesus eliminates the sinner by eliminating sin. That's the difference! The Jews and the disciples ignored the needs of the people. However, Jesus would feed them when they were hungry, heal them when they were sick, calm the storm for them.... He was never overtaken by hatred but he was steeped in love.
To have a mind of Jesus is to see the needs of the people and meet them, but not to ponder on their weaknesses and looking for ways to correct them.
Last week in Pune a six-year-old girl over run by a car bled to death on the busy street of the city. She lay there for two hours bleeding while the mob gathered at the accident site was engaged in assaulting the driver. Nobody cared about taking the girl to the hospital because they were busy punishing the "sinner" driver. By the time the girls parents arrived at the scene, she was lying there dead in a pool of blood.
The mob typifies the behavior of the contemporary world. Love and compassion are over taken by hatred and a false sense of justice. The crowd is more interested meting out justice by punishing the offender while the great need for that helpless girl was not justice but compassion. She needed a Good Samaritan who will rush her to the hospital and save her life. The crowd was keen on taking one more life than saving another. The careless driver has to be arrested and handed over to the police; probably he should not be allowed to drive again if he cannot drive safely. However, that should not be at the cost of a young life.
We raise our voice against unjust economic and social systems and are doing all that we can to change them. However, while we wait for the systems to improve there are thousands of lives that will continue to live in those conditions. What they need is practical involvement, something to be done to change their life before they die their untimely death.
Jesus' focus was on the need of the people and not on eliminating the sinner. He came to eliminate sin and not the sinners. When the woman caught in adultery was brought before him, he let her go. The Jews wanted to kill her. They eliminate sin by eliminating the sinner. Jesus eliminates the sinner by eliminating sin. That's the difference! The Jews and the disciples ignored the needs of the people. However, Jesus would feed them when they were hungry, heal them when they were sick, calm the storm for them.... He was never overtaken by hatred but he was steeped in love.
To have a mind of Jesus is to see the needs of the people and meet them, but not to ponder on their weaknesses and looking for ways to correct them.