English 2 Western Literature: Lesson 105 Essay – “Compare the ethical behavior of Zeus with the ethical teaching of Jesus?”

There was a huge difference between the behavior of Zeus and Jesus’ teachings. Zeus did what ever he wanted to do without ethical restrictions. Jesus came partially because He needed to show humans the ethical way to live.

Some good examples of how unethical Zeus was were when he would go to earth and rape women because he wanted to. He would then lie to his wife that way he didn’t take lip. Jesus taught us to respect others and respect their opinions. Raping someone is not a form of showing respect. Jesus also advocated against using force on other people.

Another example of a difference between Jesus and Zeus was that Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus was very kind and healed many, some of them were underserving. Jesus showed us that we are all undeserving of His healing and forgiveness. Jesus still died for all of us and healed many people anyways. We do not see this type of behavior coming from Zeus. In most of the stories we see that Zeus was trying to please himself. I think that Zeus was primarily portrayed as a hedonist. He only cared about himself and pleasing himself. In the Greek stories Zeus never went out of his way to help other gods or humans. In most cases it seemed that Zeus would frequently act cruel and sharp towards others if it meant he would get what he wanted. Zeus would not go out of his way to be a butt hole, but in all the accounts I have read about him I never heard of him going out of his way to help others. On the other hand Jesus died for all of us and we were all undeserving of His sacrifice. Zeus thought he was superior to everyone else so he never considered going out of his way to help people weaker than him.

Another large difference we see is that Jesus was meant to set a good example on how we should treat others in life while Zeus was a terrible person to act like. You know that Zeus was a bad god when it was likely that more than half of the population made more ethical decisions than Zeus did. Most people would think that a god should be perfect like Jesus rather than a  powerful hedonist like Zeus.

Basically we see that Zeus had not ethical limitations on himself and that Jesus taught us to be humble and serve others. We see that Zeus was less ethical than most men and Jesus was perfect and free of sin. Zeus was selfish and a hedonist and Jesus taught us to serve others and control our desires that could lead to bad consequences.

English 2 Western Literature: Lesson 91 Essay – “According to Mark’s gospel, what was the main issue dividing Jesus from the leaders of Israel?”

The primary difference between Jesus and the religious leaders was that Jesus focused on faith and doing good while the religious leaders focused on the law and ritual practices. Jesus said that nitpicky rituals and practices weren’t important, but that doing what is good for others and for your own soul were more important. In a few cases Jesus broke Old Testament tradition to help others, which the religious leaders did not like.

One issue that divided Jesus and the religious leaders was whether Jesus was really the Son of god or not. The religious leaders did not think that Jesus was the Messiah because He did not meet their physical expectations. The leaders were expecting a military leader that would give Israel independence. They were also expecting a man who would reinforce their current beliefs. Jesus said that His kingdom was not on earth, so the religious leaders thought that He could not be their savior. Jesus also spoke of spiritual warfare rather than physical warfare which confused the religious leaders and did not satisfy their desires. The religious leaders did not like Jesus because He preached new things that differed from their old traditions which made them mad. An example of this was when Jesus and His disciples did not wash their hands before eating. The religious leaders saw this and said that Jesus and His disciples had committed an unholy act. Jesus said that it was smart to wash your hands before eating, but He said that not washing your hands was not a sin. Jesus said sin could only come from a person’s heart (thoughts).

The main battle is between faith, forgiveness, and action versus tradition, rituals, and exact law. The religious leaders would try to portray themselves as righteous and good people. One time Jesus was eating with a group of tax collectors and poor people. The religious leaders asked why He was eating with unholy people who didn’t follow all of the specifics of the law. Jesus said He was on earth to teach the unholy to repent and that the “righteous” did not need him. This showed the battle between forgiveness and arrogance. Jesus’ many miracles illustrated how He wanted people too have faith in Him and God. Most of the religious leaders would never listen because they were prideful, doubtful, and lacking in the faith department. Jesus showed that doing good and helping other was more important than following the exact law when He healed a man’s hand on the Sabbath day, which was apparently against the law.

The primary difference we see between Jesus and the religious leaders is that Jesus didn’t care about tradition or the law as long as He knew He was doing the right thing. The “right thing” could mean teaching, healing, helping, and/or forgiving others. Jesus also made it clear that only what comes out of a man can be sin, not skipping the pre-lunch had wash.

 

English 2 Western Literature: Lesson 85 Essay – “How important were the miracles in the book’s account of Jesus’s early ministry?”

The miracles Jesus performed were very important in His ministry. He used these miracles to show people that He was holy and that what He was teaching was good and true.

Jesus would frequently remove demons from people. In that time most people believed that you could be possessed by demons. Most people were very scared of these demons because they would destroy the bodies of the people who they possessed. People were also scared because the demons would drive people insane. When Jesus came and simply ordered a group of demons out of a host’s body people were amazed. Due to Jesus doing this people knew He had authority over the demons. Many people who saw Jesus do this realized that He was holy and that He really was the son of God. Some people thought that Jesus was the devil. Jesus would say to His to haters that a “house divided can not stand.” These exorcisms gave Him the opportunity to prove whose side He was on and teach people. It was important because people were familiar with exorcism and they would accept it, but Jesus took it to a new level.

Jesus would heal people by simply speaking to them or touching them. This was important because people would be stunned at Jesus’s healing abilities and they would realize that He was working for good. They would also be more likely to believe that He was God’s son because of is powerful abilities. Since Jesus would heal these people He would often teach them before and after healing them. He realized people that wanted something from Him would be more likely to listen to Him. In one instance Jesus used healing to show how important the forgiveness of sin was to Him. A palsied man was lowered through a hole in a building Jesus was in. Jesus was impressed by the man’s desire for healing, so He forgave the man for his sins. Jesus saw the religious leaders’ hostile mental reactions, so Jesus asked if it was easier to tell a man his sins were forgiven or to tell a paralyzed man to get up and walk. This was important because it showed Jesus’s power and authority. It also showed how valuable forgiveness was to Jesus and that forgiveness should be valued as highly to us as it was to Jesus. I think Jesus was also comparing the importance of forgiveness to the importance of complete healing. This story also points to the primary purpose of Jesus’s ministry, to heal people ethically. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath to prove that doing good is more important than following rituals.

Jesus performed other impossible and miraculous feats. Jesus calmed the sea during a storm to teach His disciples to have greater faith in Him, God, and the Holy Ghost. Another reason He did this was to remind His disciples that He had power over the elements on earth. Jesus divided five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food for at least 5,000 people. He did this to remind people no to doubt His teachings, abilities, and authority. Jesus walked on water to remind His disciples of His abilities and authority on earth as God’s son.

In conclusion, Jesus’s miracles helped with His ministry loads. These miracles always enforced ethical teachings. The miracles helped people see that Jesus was everything He said He was. They showed His kindness, authority over evil, and insane abilities that let Him defy nature.