Make sure you listen to Bob Barney’s Midday Broadcast today which will show you the Truth about what the Bible says about Socialism, Communism and The Ten Commandments!
The following article does not necessarily express the views of The Plain Truth. We are sharing other opinions and will sometimes offer a commentary on anything we may disagree with.
Joshua Arnold – WashingtonStand.com
Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) continues to display a Trumpian knack for stirring media coverage through controversy. But, unlike Trump, his particular brand of provocation involves subjecting the Christian Bible to verbal origami. In a recent townhall, Talarico cited Jesus’s teachings in support of government-funded health care, declaring that “healing the sick” is “how we will be judged and how we will be saved.”
At a July townhall-style campaign stop with black voters, Talarico answered a question about health care costs, declaring, “We can finish the work of President Obama and pass a public option so that every single American has access to the health care they deserve because health care is a human right. It is not a privilege.”
Time does not permit the author to fully mine this rich vein, so two comments must suffice. First, the notion that Obamacare was an incomplete step towards a “public option” expresses the hope of the most radical left-wing activists from 15 years ago. Second, recognizing as a human right something which others must pay for would fundamentally redefine the whole concept and disrupt the balance between rights and the attendant duties.
That was Talarico’s canned response. After a moment of hesitation, he pivoted into something more provocative. “I just — since we are in church (and because I said ‘BS’ earlier), if you read our Scriptures, if you read the New Testament, what does Jesus spend most of his time doing? It’s not” — here an unexpected exclamation from the audience interrupted Talarico’s flow — “Well, you already know, okay. It’s not preaching. It’s not teaching. It is healing: healing the sick. And, in Matthew 25, Scripture says that’s how we will be judged and how we will be saved — by healing the sick, by feeding the hungry, by welcoming the stranger, by visiting the prisoner.”
Those comments are sure to set readers to scratching their heads, wondering whether Talarico — and, apparently, the attendees who already knew his answer — are reading the same gospels.
The testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not provide enough information to say definitively how Jesus spent “most of his time.” (If anything, prayer would seem like the leading candidate.) The gospels often tie teaching, preaching, and healing together (Matthew 4:23; 9:35), which should caution interpreters against drawing sharp division lines between them.
However, in some cases, the gospel authors simply summarize Jesus’s entire ministry as preaching (Matthew 4:17; 11:1). On one occasion, Luke records that Jesus snuck away from a crowd seeking his healing, explaining, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:40-43).
Throughout the New Testament, the message of the gospel is preeminent, while miraculous signs like healings and exorcisms provide confirmation of the truth of the message. For instance, when Jesus cast out a demon, the crowd declared, “What is this? A new teaching with authority!” (Mark 1:27). When John’s disciples questioned whether Jesus was the Christ, Jesus appealed to his works of healing as confirmation of his message (Matthew 11:2-6).
Jesus handed down the same order to his followers, instructing them first and foremost to preach the gospel, and heal the sick along the way (Matthew 10:5-8).
The Scripture Talarico invokes to support his argument is Matthew 25, a classic favorite of liberal theologians to support their social agenda. In the final judgment, the Son of Man will tell his sheep, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Matthew 25:35-36). The king then responds to their bewilderment, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). From there, he proceeds to pronounce the opposite judgment on those who “did not do” these things “to one of the least of these” (Matthew 25:45)
READ MORE>>>>