Jesus preached only to the Jews.
In the context of some random forum exchange, ...
[and yes, I realize I need to find a better hobby]
I claimed that Jesus (a lead character in Christian religious fables)
--
[Note:
I said a lot of other things too.
But I'm addressing those in other blogs]
In reply, some random Christian argued:
"Untrue, see Matthew 8:5-13;Luke 7:1-10 with the healing of the Roman Centurion's servant/child/son"
---
My next reply was/is this:
These are, of course, two tellings of the same story.
And yet,
neither telling of that story
refutes what I said.
Jesus, in that fable:
* Does not bother to attempt to recruit any non-Jewish person into Judaism.
* Nor does he attempt to recruit anyone into some new religion (not that Christianity existed yet to recruit anyone into).
*Nor does he even share news or preachments of his religion with any non-Jews.
Someone merely asks for his help
because they heard rumors that he might be able to.
And when Jesus praises that non-Jew for his "faith",
he doesn't mean faith in any religion, sect, ideology, or deity.
No.
None of that.
He praises the centurion for his hope-based trust/faith
that the rumors of Jesus' powers are:
at least credible enough to seriously consider.
Jesus, in that story, was using that man's fear, hope, and desperacy
as an opportunity
to promote himself to other Jews.
To use shame,
to emotionally manipulate a nearby and skeptical group of Jews
towards trust in Jesus,
Jesus had to exaggeratedly praise the Non-Jew's gesture of trust.
If we translate that fable into a theoretical real-life situation:
The man had clearly exhausted other avenues.
He had nothing to lose by giving a locally rumored faith healer a try.
But he doesn't address Jesus as a deity,
nor as anyone at the top of any authority hierarchy.
Instead, the centurion addresses Jesus as a fellow commander;
himself and Jesus
as both:
human men
operating UNDER some other human authority
but yet over some various men who do their bidding.
-Middle management
in their respective power structures.
Although, the centurion does not bother to articulate which earthly power structure he thinks Jesus operates within.
He is merely appealing to a vague sort of common ground.
The centurion
was attempting to be seen as someone relatable, in his efforts to woo Jesus into helping.
It's a pretty basic social skill, for anyone in a line of work where:
trying to get people to do what you want
is a normal part of the job.
As for the words of confidence and praise directed at Jesus ... this was something that decorum and prudence would warrant;
- if a very desperate person is to sweet-talk a local faith healer into a charitable effort.
Worst case scenario:
the faith healer turns out to be a fake.
But he probably wouldn't even try, if the person asking for the help ... had risked causing offense with words of doubt.
As for Jesus's response:
Besides the fact
that his words were an effort to shame fellow Jews for their lack of trust in Jesus, ...
At no point in that story
does the Jesus character say anything to the effect of "Well hey, since you trusted me enough to let me attempt to heal the person you care about, ... would you like to become an honorary member of my totally legit Jewish cult?".
Nor did the Centurion ever express faith (nor indicate any specific knowledge or interest) in the teachings of that cult.
In any event, ...
The centurion's request
was a risk-free proposition.
If the only locally-rumored faith healer has been a voodoo shaman instead,
the exact same (risk-free) trust/faith would have been extended by the very desperate centurion.
So then,
Jesus, in those stories:
* Preached only to Jews.
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