That is such an overly simplistic and reductionist take. I’m not even sure the most control and fear oriented, “OT” Christians would accept that interpretation. I’m not even sure that there are any hardcore Jews that would accept that interpretation.
From a Christian perspective, Jesus is evidently non-violent and encourages non-violence (“those who live by the sword, die by the sword,” “let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” and his refusal to start a riot in Jerusalem when he’s being tried.)
Also, I’d take your Matthew quote as Jesus seeing himself as in conversation with the Jewish corpus of teachings, not divorcing himself from it. He’s evidently NOT ok with the blind implementation of OT teaching. Anyway, I’ve got to clarify that the translation of Torah as “law” misses a lot of nuance. “Teachings” might be a better translation. “The Law and the Prophets” is basically shorthand for what Christians would call the “Old Testament”.
He obviously interpreted and prioritised Old Testament teachings to place love, mercy, and redemption at the heart of interpretation, so to say that, “Jesus wants you to kill your non-Christian family,” is absolutely disingenuous.
That is such an overly simplistic and reductionist take. I’m not even sure the most control and fear oriented, “OT” Christians would accept that interpretation. I’m not even sure that there are any hardcore Jews that would accept that interpretation.
From a Christian perspective, Jesus is evidently non-violent and encourages non-violence (“those who live by the sword, die by the sword,” “let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” and his refusal to start a riot in Jerusalem when he’s being tried.)
Also, I’d take your Matthew quote as Jesus seeing himself as in conversation with the Jewish corpus of teachings, not divorcing himself from it. He’s evidently NOT ok with the blind implementation of OT teaching. Anyway, I’ve got to clarify that the translation of Torah as “law” misses a lot of nuance. “Teachings” might be a better translation. “The Law and the Prophets” is basically shorthand for what Christians would call the “Old Testament”.
He obviously interpreted and prioritised Old Testament teachings to place love, mercy, and redemption at the heart of interpretation, so to say that, “Jesus wants you to kill your non-Christian family,” is absolutely disingenuous.