Mr/Ms Mcbockalds,

How about this:

The Gospels do not regard Jesus as a moralist as does most of Christian history. Rather, his basic mission was to preach the coming of God's kingdom, and that people must devote themselves totally to God if they hope to enter the kingdom.

Jesus doesn't prescribe standards of behavior because they will contribute to man's happiness and well-being on Earth. He issues commands, or rules, backed by brute sanctions of heaven and hell, with the choice of sanction determined by how well you obey.

Jesus didn't distinguish himself by the content of his moral code, but by the claim he was on a divinely appointed mission.

Even his statement of passive non-resistance reeks of self-sacrifice and obedience:

"Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have the cloak as well; and if one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles" ---Mathew 5:39--41

The above lesson is that we are not to judge others (a suspension of your critical faculties) We are to tolerate injustice and refrain from making value judgments (a destruction of our capacity to tell good from evil). What Jesus is going for is the kind of intellectual and moral passiveness that ensures obedience.

His commands are to leave your family and friends and self-regard and follow him. It is to this end that Jesus recruited followers.