It is Impossible – republished.

I feel the need to republish the following post from last April.
==========================================
do not gossip, do not lie, do not steal, do not murder, do not covet, do not commit adultery, do not worship false gods, do not disobey your parents, do not make idols, do not give false testimony against your neighbour, do not enter the holy of holies except on the day of atonement and then only the high priest, do not eat fat, do not eat blood, do not sin unintentionally, do not touch unclean wild animals, do not touch unclean livestock, do not take an oath, do not eat rabbit, do not eat pig, do not eat eel, do not eat shellfish, do not eat eagle, do not eat vulture, do not eat raven, do not eat osprey, do not eat stork, do not eat bat, do not eat weasel, rat or lizard, do not eat snake, do not allow mildew, do not touch a woman who is having her period, do not touch anything she has touched, do not sit anywhere she has sat, do not lie with her, do not work on the sabbath, do not divorce, do not have sex with a close relative, do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable, women should not lie with women, do not reap to the very edges of your field, do not seek revenge or hold a grudge against one of your own people, do not eat meat with blood still in it, ‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard, ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves, ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them, do not mistreat the immigrant, do not curse your father or mother or you will be put to death, do not plant your fields every seventh year, do not charge interest on a loan, do not make profit on the sale of food, give a tenth of all you earn to the temple, circumcise every newborn male on the eighth day, do not wear clothing with mixed fibres, do not even look at a woman lustfully or you have commited adultery, if you hate your neighbour you are guilty of murder, not put the Lord your God to the test, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also, if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well, If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles, Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them, So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do, And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men, And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, Do not judge, or you too will be judged, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.