#8217;t make them righteous, their effort does. The laws are not the standard by which we should be judged, but instead just minimum suggestions to guide us. We know what is right and should do the most we can, not the minimum. In Matthew 15 Jesus says of the Pharisees, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain. Their teachings are but rules taught by men.”He criticized the Pharisees and teachers of the law because they were to caught up in doing what they thought the law said god wanted them to that they forgot what was truly important. Loving and helping your neighbor, the most basic democratic concern. When Jesus came he didn’t hang out with the rulers of the land or the predominant, but instead he lived and worked among the poor. His teachings were for everyone but his personal aid was not for the wealthy, but for the poor and not for the healthy, but for the sick. He spent much of his time healing the most lowly and diseased people in the land. He didn’t pay most of his attention to the majority, but instead focused his attention on the minorities. He also treated women equally in a time when it was not proper to do so. When some people wanted to stone a woman who had been caught committing adultery, he spoke up for her and said, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” This was in a time when women were considered to be a man’s property and did not hold very much value.Although Jesus’ main concern for the people was spirituality, he was also very concerned with these social issues. He preached numerous times about helping the poor and put great emphasis on it. When asked which law was the Most important he replied, “Love the lord God with all of your heart and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There are no greater commandments than ...
