The Cult of Paul

Even the parable of The Sower in the Gospel of Luke (the parable that forms the foundation for all
Jesus' other parables – see Mark 4:13) intimates a call to willing self-sacrifice with the words: “But as for
that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and
good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance” (via Luke 8:15 – especially potent when coupled with
Luke 19:27-28's “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
strength, and with all your mind; and also your neighbor as yourself … Do this, and you shall live” 70 ).
And yet Jesus was much more than a mere preacher of The Way of joyful self-sacrifice, for he
actively embodied his beliefs about selfless Love just as consistently and just as powerfully as he
spoke them (“Even though you might not believe me, believe [my] works” ~ John 10:38). When hordes of
demanding strangers repeatedly pressed in upon him, Jesus exuded a heartfelt “compassion” for them
(see Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 15:32, & Matthew 20:34 et al) and even summoned them to
himself in times when he was surely annoyed or frustrated or depressed or even exhausted (“Come to
me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” ~ Matthew 11:28 – see also
Mark 10:14, John 5:40, John 7:37, John 10:10, & John 15:11). Even though it made him ritually “unclean”
in the eyes of his society's strict religious conventions, he gently touched lepers (a la Matthew 8:3, Mark
1:40-42, Luke 5:12-13, Luke 14:1-4, & Luke 17:11-19 – and this, despite the law established by Leviticus 13 &
Leviticus 5:3) and was openly kind to menstruating women who touched him without his permission (a
la Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:24-34, & Luke 8:43-48 – and this, despite the law established by Leviticus 15:25).
Even though it was staunchly frowned upon by the masses, Jesus was kind to tax collectors and
“sinners” (see Matthew 9:10, Mark 2:15-17, Luke 5:29-32, & Luke 15:1-2 – also John 8:1-11) and openly
associated with Canaanites & Samaritans (see Matthew 15:22-28, Luke 17:15-16, & John 4:1-26). He
gave up his relationships with friends and family members (see Matthew 10:37, Matthew 12:48-49, Mark
3:33-34, & Luke 8:20-21 – often being sternly scorned by the same as a result; see Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4,
Luke 4:24, & John 4:44) to travel the land as a meandering mendicant – an itinerant preacher who
encouraged his followers to “give up all [their] possessions” (Luke 14:33 – see also Matthew 19:20-26,
Mark 10:21, Luke 12:32-34, & Luke 16:13-15 et al), who had no money to his name (see Acts 2:44-45,
Luke 8:1-3, John 12:6, & John 13:39), and who maintained no home of his own (see Matthew 8:20, Luke
4:43, & Luke 9:58). Indeed, even in his darkest hour he openly placed the will of God over his own
desires (see Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, & Luke 22:42) and, most importantly of all, he purposefully
arranged for his own crucifixion (see Matthew 16:21-23, Matthew 27:42,
Mark 8:31-33, Mark 15:31, Luke 18:31-34, Luke 23:35, & John 10:17-18 et
al) – by far the most powerful method possible to communicate his
Way of willingly self-sacrificial Love. 71
“I have set you an example,
that you might do for others
as I have done for you”
~ Jesus (John 13:15)
70 Even this passage, Jesus' crystallization of the 10 Commandments (also found in Matthew 22:37-40 & Mark 12:30-31),
implies a profound call to self-sacrifice, seeing as how the only time in his biblical ministry that he specifically defines
the “neighbors” we are to Love he does so by equating them with our enemies (via the parable of The Good Samaritan
in Luke 10:29-37, where the hero of the tale is a Samaritan – a cultural enemy of the Jews of Jesus' day – who “shows
mercy”, something that only be done to one who has wronged or harmed us.
71 As mentioned previously, if one reads the New Testament texts carefully, it is easy to see that Jesus “[knew] all that
was to happen to him” (John 18:4) – namely, that he in all probability pre-planned his own crucifixion. He repeatedly
told his disciples ahead of time that he was going to be “handed over to the chief priests” to then “rise again after three
days” (Matthew 20:17-19 – see also Mark 9:30-32, Luke 9:22, Luke 9:44, John 12:27 et al), he regularly showed that
he had pre-organized the event (see Matthew 21:1-9, Matthew 21:17, Matthew 26:18, Mark 11:11, Luke 9:52, Luke
10:1, Luke 19:5, John 7:10 et al), and frequently noted that he was doing everything purposefully “so that the Scripture
might be fulfilled” (see Matthew 26:54-56, Luke 24:44, John 12:23-34, John 17:12, John 18:11 et al) … For additional
proof of this postulation, see Part 2 (which begins at page 35) of my book Exhuming Easter, readable online at the
following link: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/55687577/exhuming-easter-complete-3rd-edition
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