Sunday, August 09, 2026
Sunday Reflections: The Theology of "Jesus Didn't Really Mean What He Said"
My entire life, there is a certain kind of sermon I have absolutely detested: Those that take a Gospel reading that includes a challenging teaching of Jesus, and then explain how Jesus did not mean what he actually said. For example, I once heard a sermon on a section of Matthew 13 where Jesus tells a parable about seeds-- ending with the weeds being burned and the wheat saved.
That sure SEEMS to be about good people being rewarded and others not. But this sermon couldn't accept that and dodged into the old testament to try to save things. It was weird. I mean... Jesus even explained this parable expressly, saying "The seed is the son of man, the field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and the weeds are the children of the evil one."
I'm not comfortable with that teaching, but it is what it is-- and it would seem that Jesus really meant something we judgment-fearing people do not want to hear.
