Gerhard Lohfink > Quotes

“And yet the ethos of the Sermon on the Mount, which is not just for the disciples but for everyone in the eschatological people of God, is just as radical, because it demands that one abandon not only evil deeds but every hurtful word directed at a brother or sister in faith (Matt 5:22). It demands regarding someone else’s marriage (and of course one’s own) as so holy that one may not even look with desire at another’s spouse (Matt 5:27-28). It demands that married couples no longer divorce but remain faithful until death (Matt 5:31-32). It commands that there be no twisting and manipulation of language any more but only absolute clarity (Matt 5:37) and that one give to anyone who asks for anything (Matt 5:42).”
― Gerhard Lohfink, Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

“And yet the ethos of the Sermon on the Mount, which is not just for the disciples but for everyone in the eschatological people of God, is just as radical, because it demands that one abandon not only evil deeds but every hurtful word directed at a brother or sister in faith (Matt 5:22). It demands regarding someone else’s marriage (and of course one’s own) as so holy that one may not even look with desire at another’s spouse (Matt 5:27-28). It demands that married couples no longer divorce but remain faithful until death (Matt 5:31-32). It commands that there be no twisting and manipulation of language any more but only absolute clarity (Matt 5:37) and that one give to anyone who asks for anything (Matt 5:42). For a man’s”
― Gerhard Lohfink, Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

“Jesus was not just concerned with souls. He wanted a changed society. That is precisely why he begins the new thing within a community of disciples whom he orders to quit acting as if they are superior, to forgive one another seventy-seven times a day, and to turn the other cheek when someone strikes them.”
― Gerhard Lohfink, Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

“human beings are also desperately engaged in “saving” their own desires and dreams, their own guiding images and plans for their lives. But these very rescue actions cause them to lose their lives—namely, the true lives that existence under the rule of God would give them. “To lose one’s life” therefore refers not only to martyrdom but in given circumstances to the surrender of one’s secure bourgeois existence for the sake of the reign of God. Such radicality for the sake of God’s project is not everyone’s thing.”
― Gerhard Lohfink, Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was