Scripture scholars are pretty much in agreement that Jesus and His followers were among a number of itinerant preachers, and that Jesus lived and died within the confines of Judaism. What made Jesus somewhat unique was his identification with the “rejects” of society—the physically and mentally infirm, the prostitutes, the corrupt (tax collectors), the collaborators, adulterers and, by extension, the addicts.
The hypocrisy of the leaders is what has been denounced, not society’s rejects: “They strain out the gnat and swallow the camel” (Mt. 23). “Why do you seek to remove the speck in your brothers eye and not see the plank in your own eye?” (Mt. 7). The cleansing of the temple may have been the last straw, and Jesus was killed for political and not religious reasons since there was (and continues to be much debate with Judaism).
So here we are more than 2,000 years later, and there are now iPhones and seven different toppings for pizzas, but human nature remains pretty much the same. The bottom line: Hypo-crisy may be a bigger threat to society than drug addiction.
Ed Gerlock, edgerlock@yahoo.com.ph